NGO accuses tobacco industry and Switzerland of human rights violations
Smoking causes around 9,500 deaths in Switzerland every year and 8 million worldwide.
Keystone / Anthony Anex
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Listening: NGO accuses tobacco industry and Switzerland of human rights violations
In a report published on Tuesday, the anti-smoking association OxySuisse has accused multinationals in the tobacco industry of violating human rights and the Swiss authorities of being complacent towards them.
Produced in collaboration with the US organisation Action on Smoking and Health, the OxySuisse reportExternal link analyses the tobacco industry’s influence from a human rights perspective.
According to the report, the tobacco industry is incompatible with fundamental human rights. The production and marketing of addictive and deadly products violates the right to health, the right to life and the right to a healthy environment, OxySuisse says.
Smoking causes around 9,500 deaths in Switzerland every year and 8 million worldwide.
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Why Switzerland has one of the world’s strongest tobacco lobbies
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With Sunday’s vote, Switzerland is bringing its tobacco control regime in line with Europe. Why did it take so long?
The association points out that Switzerland is lagging far behind in the fight against smoking, coming 36th out of 37 European countries.
According to OxySuisse, this delay can be explained by the weight of the tobacco industry in the Swiss Confederation. “The presence in Switzerland of two of the country’s influential tobacco multinationals is one of the reasons for the failure to implement effective smoking prevention policies,” Michela Canevascini, Director of OxySuisse, told Swiss public television RTS on Tuesday.
“We (Switzerland, editor’s note) often give priority to the commercial interests of these companies to the detriment of the Swiss population’s right to health.”
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Translated from French by DeepL/jdp
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