COMMENT

The World Health Organization has published its 2011 Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, which includes the first-ever global research of anti-tobacco public education campaigns.  Shockingly, the report reveals that only a quarter of the world’s population was exposed to at least one high-quality anti-tobacco public education campaign since 2008.

Here in Russia, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and the overwhelming burden of tobacco-related death and diseases results in a population decline of 400,000 people each year.  In the last 20 years, the average male life span in Russia dropped from 64 to 59 years of age, largely due to smoking.

Some 42 million people smoke every day in Russia – 60 percent of men and 21 percent of women– resulting in one of the highest smoking burdens of any country in the world. And given the aggressive marketing practices adopted by the tobacco industry in Russia, the need to act to counter industry propaganda is all the more urgent.

 

The role of the media

Effective campaigns are within reach. It has been demonstrated in many studies that mass media is a cost-efficient way to reduce smoking. For example, a graphic, hard-hitting, relatively low-cost campaign on tobacco in India managed to reach as many as 114 million tobacco users there. Additionally, a growing number of countries are finding ways to repackage existing content that have reduced smoking prevalence in other countries to save time and money on production costs and ensure the use of effective ads.  One concept – the “Cigarettes are Eating You Alive” campaign – developed in New York City has been adapted and recently aired in Moscow and other regions of Russia, as well as in other countries. This campaign is highlighted in the new WHO report.

A strong body of evidence suggests that mass media campaigns with strong, graphic emotional messages, reaching large parts of the population with frequency, can increase knowledge about the harms of tobacco use and encourage people to quit. Sustained use of such campaigns over longer periods can contribute to a significantly healthier and more productive society. Powerful campaign materials, first developed in Australia, the UK and the US were shown to be effective in Russia as well.  The same materials work here because people, no matter where they are from, respond to clear, blunt messages about how tobacco harms them and those around them.

 

A global crackdown

This all points to a nascent globalization of anti-tobacco marketing, helping countries be more cost and time efficient. It is a fitting response to decades of global marketing from the tobacco industry, which has relentlessly told us that tobacco is ‘sexy’, ‘sophisticated,’ ‘fresh,’  ‘fun,’ even ‘healthy’. Such public education is also a key provision of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global public health treaty which more than 170 of the world’s countries have now signed, including Russia.

As with many other aspects of public health, however, political will determines success. Today’s report provides strong evidence that countries, including Russia, must move quickly to inform people and protect them from the illness and death causes by tobacco. If Russia commits to strong continued action, we can shift the acceptability of tobacco use here and around the world.

Sandra Mullin is senior vice president for policy and communications at the World Lung Foundation