Ireland: Charities'' Alarm over Govt Meeting Big Tobacco

Source from:  IrishHealth.com (ie)  05/24/2013

Health charities have expressed concern about a meeting senior Government ministers held recently with representatives of the tobacco industry.

Health Minister James Reilly did not attend the meeting. He said today he had been aware of the meeting but did not wish to be present at it.

The Chief Executives of the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation have written to the Taoiseach to communicate their shock that he, Minister Michael Noonan and Minister Alan Shatter hosted the meeting on May 7 for the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee (ITMAC).

The charities say they are very concerned that the most senior level of Government met an industry whose only objective is to keep people smoking.

"The tobacco industry costs the State €1 billion more in healthcare costs than the Exchequer collects in taxes annually. The tobacco is not a normal industry and cannot be allowed a seat at the decision-making table."

The chjarities said in Ireland, the tobacco industry has to attract 50 new smokers a day to replace those who die or quit. Most of these are children who go on to be lifetime smokers and half of whom will later die from their addiction.

The Irish Cancer Society and Irish Heart Foundation have said in their letter that meeting the tobacco industry may have contravened Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) to which Ireland is a signatory.

The two national charities state in the letter that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interests. There is no purpose in Governments, their servants or agents meeting the industry except on very narrow regulatory issues.

Kathleen O'Meara, Head of Advocacy and Communications at the Irish Cancer Society said, "The tobacco industry was trying everything it could to derail efforts designed to stop Irish people dying from smoking.

"Any organisation that tries to block, delay or disrupt legislation that will reduce the smoking rate is at the expense of Irish lives. The tobacco industry uses meetings like this recent one with the Taoiseach and senior Government Ministers to create a false air of credibility about their business practices but the reality is that this is a duplicitous industry that cannot be trusted."

The two charities have requested to meet the Taoiseach, Minister Noonan and Minister Shatter to discuss the matter.

Minister Reilly, responding to concerns expressed by Senator John Crown, told the Oireachtas Health Committee today that he had been aware of the Government's meeting with tobacco representatives, but he would not attend it.

He said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss tobacco smuggling and it therefore did not contravene the WHO framework.

However, it was reported in the Irish Times today that the meeting also discussed issues such as plain packaging for tobacco products and the banning of 'roll-your-own' and menthol tobacco products.

Dr Reilly told the Committee that he had 'declared war' on the tobacco industry. He said he knew of no other industry that was legal where one out of two people who used its products would die as a result.

The Minister stressed he was going ahead with plans to introduce plain packaging and to ban smoking in cars with children. Enditem