Plain packaging for English cigarettes: the right decision
Edmund Stubbs, 19 March 2015
If we are to save the NHS, simply restructuring and improving its services will not suffice, we must reduce the demand for those services in the first place. This is why the promotion of preventative medicine is so important, and why we, as a nation, need to invest more in public health programmes.
Last week, the government has finally passed a plain packaging law for cigarettes sold in England which will be implemented next year. In the light of new Australian research it seems they were right to do so. In 2011 the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act was enforced in Australia, sufficient time has now elapsed for its effects to be assessed.
Results from comprehensive studies published in the BMJ that involved thousands of Australians, assessing attitudes both before and after the introduction of plain packaging legislation, has revealed that there are hugely increased numbers of smokers quitting the habit and more wanting to quit, with a 12.2% reduction of habitual smokers recorded in a single year (2013-14). The surveys further reveal that teenagers are finding plain packaged cigarettes far less appealing. Contrary to the claims of tobacco companies, no increase in the consumption of illicit or cheaper cigarettes in plain packaging has been observed.
In 2011 the proposed Australian law was viewed as a legitimate measure to protect public health. However, as a consequence, Phillip Morris International (owner of Marlboro, Benson and Hedges and many other well-known brands) moved its principle assets to Hong Kong in order to be able to sue the Australian government using a 1993 trade agreement between the two states aimed at protecting investment.
This trade agreement contained an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) similar to that proposed for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the U.S. and Europe. Although Phillip Morris’ attempts to sue the Australian government were ultimately unsuccessful, the Australian government has stated that it will no longer seek ISDS inclusion in future trade agreements to protect its sovereignty in such matters.
Ongoing similar legal disputes with countries such as Uruguay have undoubtedly put other countries off implementing plain packaging laws, as is certainly the case with New Zealand. However in the last few days we have learnt that a new global fund will be launched (funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) to help developing countries ‘fend off’ challenges to their tobacco related legislation from the companies who make such products.
The fact that money from the charitable sector is having to be used simply to safeguard countries’ sovereignty and enable them to implement their own public health policies seems ludicrous, but hopefully such support will give more countries the confidence to implement public health policy in this area and dissuade tobacco companies from challenging their decisions.
Plain packaging legislation seems an obvious and simple measure to take to protect public health. In itself it does nothing to oppose an individual’s free choice as to whether they decide to commence smoking, it simply reduces the attractiveness of the habit, especially in the eyes of the young, perhaps affording them a longer period of reflection, reaching a more mature age before deciding, unaffected by slick graphics and persuasive presentation.
Governments are highly unlikely to implement public health laws unless there is thought to be substantial public support for them based on reliable evidence. For this reason it is essential that we prioritise the right of governments all over the world to implement those policies that they believe will enhance the wellbeing of their citizens. The sovereignty to do so must have priority over the clauses of any trade agreement.
England was right to legislate for plain tobacco packaging. Let us hope that many other nations will now have the courage to follow this example.
Edmund Stubbs, Healthcare Researcher, @estubbs1