As the National People's Congress considers amendments to China’s National Advertising Law, the tobacco industry is working overtime to weaken the law’s provisions on tobacco advertising. But anything short of a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising (including promotion and sponsorship) will be a huge mistake costing thousands of Chinese lives.
First, the bad news. Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people a year, including 1 million people in China, where three out of every 10 adults smoke tobacco. In addition to threatening public health, smoking does great economic harm, undermining China’s workforce by sickening and killing people at the height of their productivity.
Now, the good news. Tobacco is the world’s single most preventable cause of death. Indeed, it was to prevent tobacco-related deaths that China joined the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global treaty committing China to adopt laws that would protect its citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke.
Fully implementing the terms of the Convention is one of the best investments that China (or any country) can make in public health. The Convention requires “a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.” But what exactly does that mean?
A ban is comprehensive if it outlaws “any form of commercial communication, recommendation or action” likely to promoting tobacco use. Such a ban extends far beyond simple commercials or ads to encompass other forms of marketing such as product placement in the movies or on TV, as well as event sponsorship (remember all those Formula 1 cars bearing tobacco logos?). A comprehensive ban even includes the production and distribution of candy, toys, and other products that resemble cigarettes.
China needs a comprehensive ban for one simple reason: if only certain forms of advertising are banned, the tobacco industry will simply shift its focus to other areas, using indirect, highly creative ways of promoting its products.
Sadly, the most vulnerable targets of this creativity are the young. While advertising is known to increase tobacco use generally, it is especially influential among impressionable youth. Most lifelong smokers start smoking at a young age, so the tobacco industry deliberately gears much of its marketing to that group. Worldwide, 70% of students aged 13 to 15 are regularly exposed to tobacco advertising, compared with just 31% of adults.
In China, a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers last year found that 86% of 5 and 6 year old Chinese children included in the survey could recognise at least one cigarette brand. And more than 20% of these kids – 1 in every 5 – say they expect to become smokers when they grow up. A comprehensive ban would protect impressionable young people, like the young children in this survey, from tobacco-related advertising, in all of its various forms, saving millions of lives in the process.
Other countries have shown that a zero-tolerance approach works well. With legislative review process at a critical juncture, China’s lawmakers have an opportunity to do what is best for the country, regardless of the pressures they may face. Anything short of a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising will cause China to fall short of its commitments under the Framework Convention – commitments that are squarely in line with China’s own stated policy goals on reducing tobacco use.
Advertising bans are critically important in protecting the health of Chinese people, especially Chinese youth, and evidence from other markets shows that anything short of a total ban simply will not work. Legislators must act decisively and courageously by enacting a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.
Dr Bernhard Schwartländer is the WHO’s Representative in China.
For more information please contact:
Ms WU Linlin
WHO China Office
E-mail: wul@wpro.who.int
Office Tel: +86 10 6532 7191