Washington, September 25, 1998- Protecting children and adolescents from tobacco by regulating advertising and enforcing laws against cigarette sales to minors is a top priority, the Ministers of Health of the Americas agreed today at the conclusion of the Pan American Sanitary Conference.
The meeting, where Ministers of Health from all countries of the Americas set health policy for the continent, approved a resolution which recognized the "seriousness of the epidemic of tobacco use and dependency as a priority health problem in the Region, especially among children and adolescents." The Ministers also asked PAHO to study the feasibility of a framework convention on tobacco control for the Americas.
The Ministers, who also re-elected Dr. George Alleyne of Barbados as Director of the Pan American Health Organization for a second four-year term, called on all countries in the Americas to "take urgent steps to protect children and adolescents through the regulation of advertising, to enforce the laws and ordinances aimed at eliminating the sale of tobacco products to minors, and to establish effective prevention programs." Each country, the ministers said, should prepare a plan to prevent and curb tobacco use, "with educational, legislative, regulatory and fiscal components."
According to PAHO experts 670,000 people in the Americas die every year from tobacco-attributable deaths, and a third of adults in Latin America and the Caribbean smoke - the same level as Canada, but higher than the U.S., where 26% are smokers. The countries with the highest prevalence of smokers are the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, with 40%, and the lowest is Paraguay, where only 15% of adults smoke.
Tobacco has significant economic implications for Latin America, said PAHO's Dr. Enrique Madrigal. "Tobacco exports earn almost $1 billion a year for Brazil and $5 billion for the United States. Five countries of the region rank among the world's leading producers of unmanufactured tobacco: the U.s. (2nd), Brazil, (4th), Canada, (14th), Argentina (15th, and Mexico (16th)" Among cigarette exporters, the U.S. is first in the world, while Brazil is 6th, Venezuela 16th, Canada 19th, and Colombia 20th, he said.
Dr. Madrigal said the World Bank conservatively estimates that tobacco is a net drain on the world economy of about $200 billion a year, but "the true costs are much higher" because of underestimation of health costs, losses of caretakers in families, losses from fires and deforestation, and other factors.
For further information contact: Daniel Epstein, tel (202) 974-3459, fax (202) 974-3143, Office of Public Information, PAHO, http://www.paho.org.