Unconvincing

Hayley Kan, Secretary-General of the Tobacco Institute of Hong Kong Ltd (South China Morning Post, April 30) states that it is, 'an undeniable fact that a ban on tobacco advertising has not achieved anti-smoking objectives . . .' However, only the tobacco industry believes that.

Health professionals choose instead to believe the mass of evidence that shows that tobacco advertising leads to increased consumption and that advertising bans do work.

If they do not work, why should the tobacco industry fight them with such intensity? The overwhelming evidence that the industry has targeted young people for decades makes its current protestations sound unconvincing, if not sickeningly cynical.

There is no way to conduct randomised control trials in countries with advertising bans, because the whole population is either exposed to the advertising or is not.

However, on the whole, the incidence of smoking among youth is decreasing in the countries with bans and one can only speculate about what would have occurred if bans were not in place.

Ms Kan's point about public support being irrelevant is typical of the industry's denial and rejection of public opinion and is not based on any evidence.