In the news: Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg have pledged $375 million USD to a program which will fight smoking in the developing world, particularly India and China.
As smoking declines in the West, tobacco companies are turning their attention to Africa, Asia and South America, where laws on public smoking and cigarette advertising are not as restrictive and where, in some cases, rising incomes make for an attractive potential market. Bloomberg and Gates want to encourage those countries to toughen these laws and tax tobacco, by funding anti-smoking groups working with the governments.
A recent World Health Organization report into the effect of smoking bans notes that they have marked health benefits but do not, as often feared, hurt businesses such as restaurants and bars.
Learning from other people’s mistakes is cheap wisdom. Let’s hope that these initiatives win out against the marketing of the tobacco giants and spare the developing world huge health and social costs for easily preventable diseases.
Technorati Tags: smoking, tobacco, anti-smoking
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