Dutch Professor Marc Willemsen says the lobby of the Dutch tobacco industry, one of the world's biggest, has been extremely effective in influencing government policy. He said lobbyists "Probably popped a few bottles of champagne when the new CDA-VVD cabinet with Edith Schippers as health minister took office." And Defence Minister Hans Hillen used to work as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry.
Professor Willemsen made his statements in his address delivered upon his appointment as the endowed professor for Tobacco Control Research at CAPHRI, the School for Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Maastricht. He says there has always been opposition to tobacco discouragement in the Netherlands, while at the same time the country is not making much headway compared to countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada. Professor Willemsen says the opposition against effective tobacco discouragement has only grown stronger since the new cabinet took office. He pointed to a speech by Health Minister Edith Schippers in which she stated her opposition to photographs of lungs damaged by smoking on packs of cigarettes.
Perverted situation
Professor Willemsen argues that the medical costs associated with smoking amount to about 2.4 billion euros a year. "No society can afford a financial loss of this magnitude." On the other hand, the government rakes in 1.8 billion euros in tobacco duties a year. However, "Not a penny of this money is being spent directly on reducing the misery caused by tobacco addiction; a perverted situation, and untenable in the long run."
The professor argues that the tobacco industry has strategic connections in government circles. "The Netherlands is a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty which stipulates that national governments should not communicate with the industry about tobacco policies. And that, if inevitable, such contacts should be made public. However, in the Netherlands this appears to be a taboo which should be investigated."
Unthinkable
Professor Willemsen argues for confrontational campaigns which clearly show the damage smoking causes to the body. He also favours higher duties on tobacco and a less prominent location for tobacco products in supermarkets. "Suppose a harmful product that made people sick were introduced and put on sale at supermarkets? It would be totally unthinkable, but tobacco is exactly that product, and yet it is completely legal.”
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This ‘Professor’ seat is paid for by 4 Dutch anti-tobacco NGO’s: the three NGO’s that formed the Dutch version of ASH, Stivoro, and Stivoro itself.
The ‘Professor’ pays too much tribute to the tobacco industry and ignores the major role that the bar owners have played in this success story.
But is is easier to blame Big Tobacco than the legitimate interests of the people who were the ones who had to pay the debt for inefficient public health regulations.
This ‘Professor’ seat is paid for by 4 Dutch anti-tobacco NGO’s: the three NGO’s that formed the Dutch version of ASH, Stivoro, and Stivoro itself.
The ‘Professor’ pays too much tribute to the tobacco industry and ignores the major role that the bar owners have played in this success story.
But is is easier to blame Big Tobacco than the legitimate interests of the people who were the ones who had to pay the debt for inefficient public health regulations.
Professor Willemsen is doing a great job. Tobacco dealers are vending death for money..when will their shoe pinch?
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