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. 2009 Aug;18(4):310-6.
doi: 10.1136/tc.2008.029405.

The tobacco industry's thwarting of marketing restrictions and health warnings in Lebanon

R Nakkash  1 , K Lee
Affiliations

The tobacco industry's thwarting of marketing restrictions and health warnings in Lebanon

R Nakkash et al. Tob Control. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

Aims: This article outlines how the tobacco industry has undermined tobacco control efforts in Lebanon since the early 1970s.

Methods: An analysis of online and on-site tobacco industry documents, reviews of newspapers, policy and other documents, and interviews with key policy makers were conducted.

Results: Findings reveal how the weakness of tobacco control legislation in Lebanon has been the product of an effective tobacco industry strategy to weaken the content and scope of regulation, and delay adoption and implementation.

Conclusions: The tobacco industry has built and maintained strong alliances that were and are regularly mobilised to effectively oppose regulation. Despite ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, Lebanon's tobacco control track remains weak. Public health professionals and the government should work hard to oppose such tobacco industry tactics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

References

    1. World Health Organization WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic: the MPOWER package. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2008
    1. Shamseddine A, Sibai A-M, Gehchan N, et al. Cancer incidence in postwar Lebanon: findings from the first national population-based registry. Ann Epidemiol 1998;14:663–8 - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization, Ministry of Public Health, & National Noncommunicable disease programme Cancer in Lebanon: National Cancer Registry Beirut, Lebanon: World Health Organization, 2003
    1. Daily Star. Draft law may reduce cigarette consumption. http://www.tobacco.org/news/168595.html (accessed 4 April 2008)
    1. Global Security. It is estimated that around 100 000 people died during the 16-year civil war (1975–1991). http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/lebanon.html (accessed 2 October 2008)

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