10 more countries to support “Tobacco Free Generation” project

SINGAPORE: A project by the National Cancer Centre Singapore to push for a Tobacco-Free Generation (TFG) has garnered the support of 10 other countries in Asia.

Eleven directors of leading cancer centres in Asia have come together to agree on a course of action to limit the sale and use of tobacco products in their respective countries and make Asia tobacco-free.

They have made the Goyang Declaration, named after the city north of Seoul, South Korea, where the meeting was held recently, and gave their support for a Tobacco-Free Generation.

The Tobacco-Free Generation 2000 (TFG 2000) aims to deny access to tobacco to those born from year 2000 onwards.

Besides the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), the other cancer centres represented at Goyang are from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Turkey and Vietnam.

At the meeting in March at Goyang, NCCS was represented by its director, Professor Soo Khee Chee.

Under the declaration, participating national cancer centres will adopt key policies and actions to facilitate tobacco control and further the goals of a Tobacco-Free Asia.

It noted that apart from the smokers, a third of the population is at risk from exposure to second-hand smoke.

The declaration said: “Most users are inadequately warned about the extreme addictiveness of tobacco, and the full range of health risks. In addition, cessation services as a form of post facto action, are not effective in controlling smoking. As such, action against smoking must not only be reactionary, but also be preemptory.”

Under the Goyang Declaration, some of the key actions and policies to be fulfilled include:

– formulating a desired end-game scenario on tobacco control in each country
– encouraging governmental intervention through passing of comprehensive smoke-free legislation
– applying scientific evidence on adverse health effect of tobacco use to assist in the formulation and implementation of health policies
– supporting widespread access to effective treatment for tobacco addiction
– fighting against the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry
– supporting litigation against tobacco companies through the development of scientifically-backed jurisprudence on the harmful effects and causal links behind tobacco use

Experts said the use of tobacco products is responsible for more than five million deaths world-wide each year and another 600,000 die because of secondhand smoke.

Thus, the 11 cancer centre directors have pledged to support the initiatives of NCCS in pushing for TFG 2000 by encouraging their own government to forbid the sale of tobacco products to any person born in, or after the year 2000.

Commenting on Singapore’s participation at the meeting of the directors of cancer centres in Asia, Prof Soo said: “The hazardous impact of smoking is far reaching. Yet, few countries in the region have policies and laws to protect citizens from the harms of tobacco use.

“Additionally, inadequate public education hinders tobacco users from making informed decisions pertaining to their health.

“By participating in this declaration, we hope to see a concerted effort by the countries in Asia to make a conscious decision to protect our future generation from the hazards of smoking and to free them from the unnecessary pain and suffering.”

Prof Soo added that there was no need to convince his counterparts on the merits of the initiative taken by NCCS to make Singapore tobacco-free.

An NCCS spokesperson added that the participants were very interested to see how NCCS is leading the way and is keen to adapt and present it to their respective governments.

Source: Channel News Asia
Published: 14 Apr 2014

Category: Top Story