Public activists urge Yanukovych to sign law prohibiting advertizing of cigarettes

Kyiv, February 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Representatives of the Health Ministry of Ukraine, the World Health Organization (WHO), teachers and public activists have called on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to sign a law on the prohibition of advertizing of cigarettes.

During a press conference hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday, an expert on non-contagious diseases of the WHO Office in Ukraine, Natalia Korol, said the advertizing of tobacco products was mainly directed at teenagers, and only a complete ban on advertizing could stop teenagers being encouraged to buy cigarettes.

"The Health Ministry supports this law," said the head of tobacco control sector of the Ukrainian Institute of Strategic Research of the Health Ministry of Ukraine, Kostiantyn Krasovsky.

According to him, the law has to be signed despite some of its drawbacks.

"Advertizing should be removed from packages and points of sale," he added.

Chairman of the Association of Headmasters of Ukrainian Schools Olena Onats complained that tickets to cultural establishments are less affordable for children and teenagers than cigarettes.

"We completely support this law and call on the president to sign it immediately, we demand this," she added.

Former Health Minister and the president of the All-Ukrainian non-governmental organization Ukrainian Association for Prevention of Strokes, Mykola Polischuk, noted that the head of state should "carry out his mission and preserve the nation's health" and sign this law.

"The president is obliged to protect the nation, he is a person that is responsible for the people of Ukraine," he said.

Polischuk also described sales of cigarettes as "the legalized sales of drugs."

The vice president of the All-Ukrainian Consumers Federation, Natalia Borodachova, said the advertizing of tobacco products popularizes smoking and negatively influences the main "strategic resource of the state – the health of the nation."

"We should appreciate the values of the civilized world, including the health of nation, while heading for Ukraine's integration in the European and international community," she said.

In turn, cardiologist at Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology of the Academy of Medical Sciences, M.D. Olena Kvasha, recalled that the death rate of heart and vascular diseases depends on the number of smokers in Ukraine.

"From the viewpoint of doctors, the easiest step towards improvement of the nation's health is to ban completely the advertizing of cigarettes," she said.

On September 22, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, banned advertizing, sponsorship and stimulation of sales of tobacco products. A total of 332 of the 370 MPs registered in the sitting hall voted for relevant amendments to some laws.

According to the document, the advertizing of tobacco products, the advertizing of trademarks of goods and services and other intellectual property under which tobacco products are produced are banned on radio and television, including cable, IP, online, mobile, digital and broadcast television and other means of signal transmission.

The advertizing of tobacco products is also prohibited in science, science fiction, educational, political, reference, and fiction publications, including printed media, on means of transport, outdoor advertizing installations, in places where mass events are held, and on the Internet.

The law also forbids sponsorship using the advertizing of tobacco products and names of producers, importers and sellers of tobacco products for TV and radio programs, plays, concerts, sports and cultural events.