Tour in Latin America stops in Quito, Ecuador to Build Support
for World's First Public Health Treaty
QUITO, Ecuador, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, an international coalition
of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are joining health advocates,
students and the city of Quito to celebrate World No Tobacco Day in Ecuador's
capital. The coalition began a three-week tour of Latin America last week to
urge the governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Costa Rica to ratify the global
tobacco treaty. Corporate Accountability International is working closely with
the Zero Tobacco Network (Brazil), Tribuna Ecuatoriana de Consumidores y
Usarios (Ecuador), ALERTA (Costa Rica) and other members of the Network for
Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) to coordinate the Latin
America Treaty Ratification Campaign.
At each stop on the tour, public health, consumer and corporate
accountability advocates from around the Americas are calling on key
government officials to support the world's first public health treaty,
formally known as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). At
yesterday's working breakfast, Ecuador's Minister of Health, Wellington
Sandoval, and the President of the Congressional Health Commission of Ecuador,
Diputado Lopez, voiced resounding support for Congress to ratify the treaty.
As the tour kicked off last week in Brazil, Dr. Tania Cavalcante from the
National Cancer Institute of Brazil's Health Ministry strongly encouraged the
Senate to take action on the treaty. "Brazil played a key role throughout the
negotiating process on the global tobacco treaty. Now the treaty is stalled in
the Senate. The eyes of the world are upon us, and people's lives are at
stake. The Brazilian government must stand firm in the face of tobacco
industry pressure and swiftly ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control."
The global tobacco treaty protects public health policy from tobacco
industry interference and bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
The treaty took effect on 27 February 2005. More than 65 countries have
ratified the treaty, including Mexico, Peru and Uruguay in Latin America, as
well as Canada, France, India and South Africa. NATT members expect many more
ratifications in the coming months.
"This treaty will save millions of lives and change the way giant tobacco
corporations operate around the world," says Yul Francisco Dorado Mazorra,
Latin America Coordinator for Corporate Accountability International. "It
demonstrates that working together, the nations of the world and their NGO
allies can protect people from irresponsible and dangerous practices of
corporations like British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris."
Since negotiations on the tobacco treaty began, global tobacco
corporations have attempted to water down and delay it. NATT members have
raised concerns about attempts by British American Tobacco and Philip
Morris/Altria to interfere in the treaty ratification process around the word.
Just last month at the Philip Morris/Altria annual shareholders' meeting, CEO
Louis Camilleri spoke about the corporation's aggressive attempts to influence
Ministers of Health around the world. Through the Latin American Tour, NATT
members are exposing and challenging tobacco industry interference in public
health policy.
"In the next two decades, 70% of the lives claimed by the tobacco epidemic
will be in the Global South. With the global tobacco treaty, it is no longer
business as usual for Big Tobacco," says Maria Jose Troya of Tribuna
Ecuatoriana de Consumidores y Usarios from Ecuador. "Countries around the
world are banning tobacco advertisements, like the Marlboro Man, and excluding
the tobacco industry from public health policy-making. It is critical that
Ecuador ratify the treaty as quickly as possible."
NATT members are encouraging Latin American countries to ratify swiftly
and to take a lead role implementing and enforcing the global tobacco treaty.
Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership
organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging
irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25
years, we've forced corporations-like Nestle, General Electric and Philip
Morris/Altria-to stop abusive actions. Corporate Accountability International,
an NGO in Official Relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), played
a key role in development of the global tobacco treaty-formally known as the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The Network for Accountability
of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) includes more than 100 NGOs from over 50
countries working for a strong, enforceable global tobacco treaty. For more
information visit http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org.
SOURCE Corporate Accountability International
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Related links:
http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org
CONTACT:
Bryan Hirsch of Corporate Accountability
International, Boston, +001-617-695-2525; or Maria Jose Troya of
Tribuna Ecuatoriana de Consumidores y Usarios, Ecuador: +00
(593-2) 250-0147; or Roxana Salazar of ALERTA, Costa Rica, +00
(506) 253 8975; or Paula Johns of Zero Tobacco Network, Brazil:
+00 (55) 11 3262-3004
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