24 September 2002

The following Democrats´ resolution relating to tobacco companies and education activities has passed the Australian Senate:

64 Senator Allison moved - That the Senate -

(a) notes:

(i) the efforts by Philip Morris Ltd to sponsor so-called drug education programs in Asia and, most recently, in the Lao People´s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR),

(ii) previous moves in Australia by Philip Morris to sponsor school-based programs, such as the ´I´ve got the power´ program, received such strong criticism from health and educational professionals that most school education authorities rejected or abandoned the programs,

(iii) the cynicism of the major tobacco companies in sponsoring education ´events´, when around 370 million cigarettes are illegally sold to children in Australia each year; and

(b) urges the Federal Government to:

(i) advise the Lao PDR that tobacco companies in Australia have consistently opposed genuine measures to reduce youth smoking rates and that their offers to sponsor education activities should not be countenanced, and

(ii) assist countries in the region by supporting a strong framework convention for tobacco control to reduce the global tobacco epidemic and to help reduce the estimated 40000 to 50000 Asian teenagers taking up smoking every day.

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