THE irony of two full pages advertising the Marlboro Championship tennis games in the South China Morning Post, on September 11, appearing in the same section of the paper with the article headlined, 'Lung cancer tops smoking deaths', must not escape your readers.
One out of two smokers dies prematurely from a smoking-related disease. Exercise and sport are both enjoyable and healthy. The two should not be mixed. Sponsorship of sport by manufacturers of a deadly product should be stopped.
Taxes on cigarettes could and should be used to sponsor sport as it has successfully been done in Australia. In addition, good sporting events, such as the First Pacific Bank Challenge, can be brought to Hong Kong with the generous help of many sponsoring companies that do not include tobacco companies. It is a shame that the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association does not take a firm stand on this issue.
Dr CAROL L. BETSON Chairperson People Acting for a Smokeless Society
