Prevention experts have renewed calls for a ban on tobacco advertisements and sponsoring to protect young people from the risks of smoking.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
They said the current regulations did not go far enough and the tobacco industry was using legal loopholes to promote smoking.
Claude Jeanrenaud, co-author of a study by a government advisory commission, pointed out that the industry has six times more money at its disposal than prevention campaigners.
He added that Switzerland’s prevention efforts were lagging behind those of other countries.
More than 200 specialists are meeting in Bern for a two-day congress, co-sponsored by the federal and cantonal authorities, the doctor’s association as well as health organisations.
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Anti-smoking campaign draws on cigarette ads
This content was published on
The three-year campaign, Stop smoking. Change to SmokeFree., is aimed at encouraging consumers to kick the habit, according to Ursula Koch, head of the prevention unit of the Federal Health Office. The number of smokers had dropped to 23 per cent of the population by 2007 but is now stagnating, according to Koch, putting Switzerland…
This content was published on
One in four 15-year-old boys and 13 per cent of their female classmates consume alcohol at least once a week, according to Addiction Info Switzerland, which carried out the latest survey. Research project leader Emmanual Kuntsche told swissinfo.ch that the levelling-off in tobacco and alcohol use was not a positive sign. “Especially as we saw…
This content was published on
After much pressure from non-smokers, who point out that more than 9,000 Swiss die prematurely from smoking every year, a nationwide smoking ban came into effect on May 1, 2010. Smoking is now forbidden in Swiss public spaces such as restaurants, bars, schools and cinemas. However, establishments can build separate ventilated smoking rooms, and locales…
This content was published on
Basic compulsory insurance, which currently does not reimburse any anti-tobacco medication, will have to pay up. The health office made its decision on August 9. Criteria have yet to be fixed. “This ruling is historical because it gives prevention the right place,” Jean-Charles Rielle, a doctor at the Information Centre for Tobacco Addiction Prevention in…
This content was published on
Swiss tobacco production is on the decline; only about 400 farmers still grow this labour-intensive crop. Most of them are in the Broye Valley stretching across cantons Vaud and Fribourg. Their production covers only a small share of the tobacco consumed in Switzerland. (Text and images, Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch)
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.