Tarja Halonen The President of Finland: We still need discussion on the risks of smoking

The 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health will be held from August 3rd to 8th 2003 in Helsinki. The conference will bring together some 2000 professionals from 115 countries involved in tobacco control.

- There are very few individuals who still believe that smoking is harmless, states Tarja Halonen the President of Finland. However, she notes that it is very important to continue global education about smoking as new generations need to be informed about the risks.

Tarja Halonen The President of Finland, is pleased about the advances that have been made in international tobacco policy.

- Many important milestones in the reduction of smoking have been reached internationally, states Tarja Halonen. As one of the most notable recent achievements she mentions the World Health Organisation (WHO) agreement, which was approved in Geneva last May.

The President emphasizes that reduction of smoking requires both sustained public education as well as appropriate political decision-making.

She also mentions the harmful role of tobacco advertising, which is based increasingly on associating desirable mental images with smoking.

Advertisements and films may therefore have a much more detrimental influence on young people than is generally realised.

- Some of the world's largest nations have taken a leadership role in the battle against smoking. I am pleased to note the policy currently followed in the United States, where many different factions work to advance a non-smoking policy, states Tarja Halonen.

She notes that those individuals who still believe in the harmlessness of smoking are very few in number these days. However, it is still important to continue discussing the risks of smoking globally as the growing new generations need to be informed of the risks. The situation in developing countries regarding smoking is poor.

The President points out that smoking sets a major challenge for public education in Finland, and she is particularly concerned about the increasing number of young girls who smoke. She does not, however, advocate strict laws to control smoking. She believes that a civilised person should have the freedom and ability to make their own decision concerning his or her health.

The four components of anti-smoking policy in Finland

President Tarja Halonen is well informed, because she was the minister for social and health affairs in the period 1987-90.

Finnish tobacco policy is based on four main approaches: health promotion, price policy, legislation and research. Finland has nearly 30 years of experience in comprehensive tobacco control.

The development of tobacco legislation and the establishment of tobacco control measures in Finland provide a good example of a changing process: In the 1950s responsible people in Finland began to call for measures to reduce smoking. In 1961, the Finnish Parliament urged the Government to adopt strong measures to reduce smoking, but it took 15 years before the Act on Measures for the Restriction of Tobacco-smoking was passed unanimously by Parliament in 1976. The comprehensive Tobacco Act was very progressive, including a total advertising ban, prohibition of the sale of tobacco products to minors, smoke-free public premises and public transport.

The 1980s saw a large increase in research, which provided evidence about the effects of passive smoking to cause lung cancer, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This created greater awareness of the health hazards of second-hand smoke and eventually led to the drafting of new legislation in 1995. In 2000, environmental tobacco smoke was included in the legislation and in the national list of carcinogenic substances.

Among the key elements of successful tobacco policy is the traditional collaboration between the health authorities and non-governmental organisations, and intensive health promotion. Politically, the need for measures to prevent smoking is widely accepted.

Over 1000 presentations

During the congress about 2000 delegates from 115 countries will hear eleven plenary presentations, as well as 3-5 presentations in each of 17 main sessions. About 1000 presentations will be in workshops and smaller sessions.

Every morning from Monday to Thursday there will be a session with about 250 poster presentations. In addition there will be a wide variety of exhibitions, 32 ancillary meetings and networking meetings.

Jong-Wook Lee, director general of the WHO, will speak in the opening ceremony and also in Monday's plenary session entitled Beyond the Convention. Other speakers at this plenary are Professor Judith Mackay, Director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control from Hong Kong, China; and a specialist on Malaysian society, Mary Assunta Kolandai, from The School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia.

Pekka Puska, Chair of the International Steering Committee and Liisa Elovainio, President of the 12th WCTOH have emphasized that the 12th WCTOH is held less than three months after the adoption of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) by the World Health Assembly.

According to them one of the most important missions of this conference is that it will be a landmark in establishing global tobacco control that will build on the strong foundation of the FCTC, in partnership with numerous stakeholders.