Uganda: BAT Sponsorship Unacceptable

Source from:  East African Business Week (Kampala) 27 August 2007 08/28/2007

Uganda is hosting the Commonwealth Business Forum ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this November and British American Tobacco's (BAT) sponsorship and chairing of this event is unacceptable considering the harm that tobacco does to human health. So far, over 148 governments recognise this fact and therefore made a commitment through ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to ban tobacco sponsorship, promotion and advertising. Uganda ratified the FCTC and is thus obligated to ban tobacco sponsorship and advertising (Article 13). The same is true for England , Head of the Commonwealth, where the tobacco industry cannot dare make such a donation. The tobacco industry has shifted the marketing of its killer products to Africa and other less developed regions. These 'untapped' poor countries are less able to confront the multi-billion dollar tobacco industry and unlikely to cope with the heavy tobacco disease burden. BAT uses hefty donations to poor governments as a way to deflect criticism, block tobacco regulation, and divert the public's attention from the impact of tobacco. Government has begun spraying DDT to kill off mosquitoes to protect the Commonwealth delegates. How about protection against the tobacco industry- another vector of worldwide disease? Of course these two disease vectors are different in nature: unlike the tobacco industry, mosquitoes do not have lobbyists nor donate 100,000 USD to government, in order to undermine public health policy. 147 governments attending the WHO FCTC Conference of the Parties last July in Bangkok, decided to develop specific guidelines to prevent tobacco industry interference in public health policies (Article 5.3). The development of a protocol on tobacco sponsorship, promotion and advertising (domestic and cross border) was also agreed upon. It's time we gave priority to the government's right to protect public health and say no to tobacco sponsorship. Otherwise, how can we achieve political, economic and human development if our people are in poor health? Enditem