CHICAGO, USA (Reuters) – health authorities of United States launched an advertising campaign of 54 million dollars (41 million euros) on Thursday with gruesome details about the health risks arising from smoking in the last battle of the Government against the cigarette.
12 Weeks campaign, called “Tips from former smokers”, is an effort to counter the us almost $ 10.5 billion they spend per year the tobacco companies to market and promote cigarettes in United States.
“This is really a struggle of type David against Goliath”. “The tobacco industry has spent more than 100 billion dollars in marketing and promotion,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and the prevention of (CDC for its acronym in English).
“Continue spending more than 10 billion dollars per year.” “That’s 1 million per hour” added.
Nearly 8 million Americans have with tobacco-related illnesses and up 443.000 die per year from causes linked to smoking. Although health authorities that many smokers give up the habit, recent evidence suggests that the message is not taking effect between young people.
Agreed the report of the director-general of public health of United States on smoking among young people, published last week, one of every four senior grades of secondary school students is regular smoker.
And because few smokers starting in high school manage to stop the cigarette is expected that 80 percent will continue smoking during adulthood
The CDC say the advertisements – a combination of payment advertising and public service announcements – seek to encourage smokers to give up smoking and to generate awareness of the damage caused by smoking and exposure to smoke.
“Basically there are ads on the real effects of cigarette on the real people.” “Show cancer, heart attacks, stroke, amputation and what it means to live with these diseases,” said Frieden.
An advertisement, for example, shows Brandon, a young woman of 31 years of North Dakota, he had her two legs amputated. At age 18 was diagnosed with the disease of Buerger, a strange disorder of the blood vessels which blocked the flow of blood to the two legs
his advice is: have extra time in the morning to put legs.
One of the TV spots shows a squalid former smoker of North Carolina called Terrie, 51 years, as he prepares to go to work. Before leaving is placed hairpieces teeth, a wig and hides the tracheotomy with a scarf tube.
The legend says: “Smoking causes damage immediately to the body.” “You can quit”.
Frieden said that heartfelt stories about the real effects that smoking cause in health have been effective to deter new smokers and achieve the cessation.
“This is what works.” “The science is very clear”, he said.
Campaign will be massive and will appear in television, radio, print media, posters in public, advertisements on means of transport and cinemas and online through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube format.
Frieden estimated that about 50,000 smokers stop smoking as a result of the campaign.
