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International Week of Resistance 2008 Actions
During the final week of September 2008, Corporate Accountability International and the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) organized the following actions:
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In Bangladesh, leaders of the Dhaka Ahsania Mission and allied organizations held a press conference denouncing the tobacco industry’s aggressive marketing. In a country where 57,000 people die every year from tobacco-related illnesses, speakers criticized British American Tobacco (BAT) for undermining Bangladesh’s efforts to implement the global tobacco treaty.
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In Bogota, Colombia, Health Secretary Hector Zambrano urged a crowd of 300 people to oppose tobacco industry interference in health policy. In 2005, Philip Morris International bought Colombia’s largest tobacco corporation, shortly after the release of a study that found new smokers were beginning to smoke at the average age of seven in the country’s second largest city.
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In Tegucigalpa, Honduras, activists held a series of demonstrations including this one inside the National Congress. Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guides were distributed to legislators. This year, the demonstrations coincided with Honduran National No Smoking Day.
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In Ghana, the Coalition of NGOs in Tobacco Control called on the Ministry of Health and the Foods and Drugs Board to institute measures to ban tobacco advertisements in the country. The group got the attention of government delegates to COP3 and informed them of the dangers of tobacco industry interference and offered their support in establishing strong Guidelines to FCTC Article 5.3. International tobacco companies continue with tobacco advertisements, promotion and sponsorship targeting youth and poor communities despite knowing that the FCTC Global Tobacco Treaty is in force in Ghana.
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In Sri Lanka, members of the National Federation on Smoking and Health met Prime Minister, Hon. Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka, to launch the campaign for a Smoke-Free Sri Lanka, calling for full implementation of Article 8 of the FCTC. Activists also went directly to the CEO of Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC), a BAT subsidiary, to deliver the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide. CTC is one of the largest taxpayers in Sri Lanka, and uses its financial and political influence to meddle in the implementation of the FCTC, especially the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act, No. 27 of 2006 legislated for this purpose. The tobacco industry causes 22,000 tobacco-related deaths in Sri Lanka each year.
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In India, Bobby Ramakant with Asha Parivar met with journalists in New Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad and held a press briefing at a medical conference on cancer, pointing out how Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) or their surrogates led over 70 court cases to prevent a nationwide smoking ban in public places from taking effect. The Supreme Court recognized this ITC delay tactic and allowed the smoking ban to become law.
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In Costa Rica, RENATA created a television ad naming all the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes and mentioning the International Week of Resistance. The ad was made in collaboration with the National Assembly and ran on most major television stations The Minister of Health, Maria Luisa Avila, announced that deputies should not be swayed by economic interests and the doors of Congress should be closed to the tobacco industry.
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In Zambia, Muyunda Ililonga with the Zambian Consumers Association (ZACA) brought together Provincial Health Inspectors for a 3-day training on effective implementation of Zambia’s tobacco control policy. Participants were alerted to British American tobacco (BAT) attempts to weaken the ban on smoking in public places, as well as urged to disassociate themselves from a BAT so-called youth smoking prevention program in Zambia.
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Actions also took place in the following countries: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Scotland, Sri Lanka, U.S.A., Uruguay and Zambia.
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