02 May 2013

Globally, the tobacco industry spends billions of Pula each year on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of its products and services, Health minister, Dr John Seakgosing, has said

“As more and more countries, including Botswana, impose total or partial bans on tobacco advertising, the industry has come up with creative new ways to publicise their brands, especially with young people and women in developing countries,” he added.

Officiating at the 5th University of Botswana (UB) Walk and Health Fair, Dr Seakgosing said recent investigations had revealed that tobacco companies had carefully studied the habits, tastes and desires of their potential customers and then used that to develop products and marketing tools aimed at them.

That, he said was why the tobacco companies now promoted their products through every conceivable medium, including radio, television, magazines and newspapers, billboards and recently the Internet.

In addition, the Health minister said the industry had also studied communities and worked closely with some of them to exploit their ignorance on the provisions of the Tobacco Control Law and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in order to advance its business objectives.

For example, in terms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, Dr Seakgosing said the tobacco industry distributed free tobacco display cabinets to retailers and street vendors to ensure that the products were displayed in a manner that appealed to the youth, children, women and other vulnerable groups.

That, he said constituted the promotion of tobacco products as well as sponsorship by the tobacco industry, both of which were indirect ways of advertising tobacco product prohibited by the laws of Botswana.

To advance their business, he said the tobacco industry had also prescribed what cost should be attached to each product, and trained the buyer on how to display the products to improve their visibility.

“The interest of the tobacco industry is to make more money at the expense of public health and we need to respond to this. My ministry is strengthening the law on tobacco advertising to address the current loopholes exploited by the industry,” he added. 

He urged parents and guardians to be vigilant and ensure that they did not accept or buy any product bearing any tobacco brand name. With concerted efforts from academia, civil society and the private sector, Dr Seakgosing said his ministry would achieve its goal to protect public health.

The event that was observed under the theme: “I Don’t Want to be a Walking Billboard for the Tobacco Industry,” was meant to make Batswana aware that they should not allow the tobacco industry to use them and their children to advertise tobacco products.

It was also meant to heighten the importance of teamwork, partnership and ownership of the health situation and initiatives in Botswana by academia, civil society, the private sector and the general public.

The theme of the event reflected the urgent need to alert the public and other stakeholders on what constituted tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and what the laws of Botswana prohibit.

Thetheme, was unveiled by the Anti-Tobacco Network (ATN), a Non-Governmental Organisation that is currently hosted by UB since 2012- following an assessment that revealed the tobacco industry’s new tactics to advertise tobacco products in Botswana. ENDS