Tobacco Forces Still Strong
August 21, 2012
Smokers in a street in Shanghai, China, March 22, 2012."
This is the VOA Special English HEALTH REPORT.
This month, the Australian High Court ruled in support of a law that bars tobacco companies from putting their logos or colors on cigarette packages. The European Union is considering a similar ban. But a recent international study showed that some countries do little to control tobacco use. It found that the tobacco industry still has a strong influence on tobacco use around the world.
Study organizers examined information about three billion tobacco users worldwide. They looked closely at tobacco use in fourteen low- and middle-income countries. They compared this information with tobacco use in two developed countries – the United States and Britain.
Gary Giovino is with the University of Buffalo School of Public Health and Professions in New York State. He also was the lead researcher in the study.
GARY GIOVINO: “Tobacco contributes an enormous burden to the health care system in developed countries, and that scenario will play out in the not-too-distant future in low- and middle-income countries. It already has in many countries -- in India, for example.”
The study found that China has three hundred million tobacco users -- more than any other country. India was second, with almost two hundred seventy-five million tobacco users. Dr. Giovino says the researchers found powerful pro-tobacco forces were active even in elementary schools.
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