Tobacco Industry Misleads Developing Countries Over Regulations

We present some new evidence in the monograph on tobacco advertising bans that shows they have a bigger effect in low- and middle-income countries than they do in high-income countries,” said Chaloupka who is also Distinguished Professor of Economics & Public Health at the University of Illinois. "Tobacco advertising bans ... have a bigger effect in low- and middle-income countries than they do in high-income countries" -- Frank Chaloupka“I think it’s partly because of the fact that in a lot of low- and middle-income countries they haven’t been exposed to the same information about the health consequences of tobacco use, people are more susceptible to the industry(’s positive) portrayals of tobacco,” noted Chaloupka.For example, says Chaloupka, graphic warning labels have proven more effective in low- and middle-income countries.“People can really see the damage caused by tobacco through the graphic warnings.” For those who have had less exposure to these warnings from other sources of information, the warnings have an even bigger impact.Taxes on tobacco sales in low and middle countries also have a bigger impact than in high-income countries, Chaloupka added.“Given people’s lower incomes, people are more responsive to changes in the price,” he said.There are several reasons why low- and middle-income countries have less tobacco regulations than high-income countries, said Chaloupka, but one problematic cause is misleading argument...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 13, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Lyndal Rowlands Tags: Featured Headlines Health Inequity Big tobacco World Health Organization (WHO) Source Type: news