Issued by: SA Communication Service
16 July 1998 Pretoria - The Department of Health has released the draft Tobacco Control Bill for public comment. The Bill proposes the prohibition of advertising of tobacco products on goods other than tobacco products, the promotion of tobacco products through sponsored events and the free distribution of tobacco products as gifts or cash prizes.
In South Africa, teenagers are bombarded daily with messages to say that smoking is part of an attractive, healthy, successful, fun-loving lifestyle. Teenage girls are told that smoking makes them slim and beautiful. The health warnings on packaging and advertisements, introduced by government in 1995, have very little impact against this tide of misinformation.
"Government has a responsibility to protect our young people from the dangers of smoking. While we can utilise health warnings on packaging and advertisements to inform the public of the dangers of tobacco, it is not enough. Warnings are directed at smokers to encourage them to quit and young people, starting to smoke tend to ignore the health warnings. We therefore need to act against advertising which encourages young people to see smoking as symbol of independence, a way to boost self esteem and self confidence," said Dr Gonda Perez.
The Department of Health encourages the public to forward their comments on the proposed Tobacco Bill no later than 14 August 1998 to Dr Gonda Perez.