Sponsor not appropriate
A RECENT study completed at the University of Hong Kong Department of Community Medicine, shows that an average of 11 per cent of the children between the ages of eight and 11 in two districts of Hong Kong are already smoking.
When the tobacco companies say that they are not targeting young people and trying to get them to take up smoking, perhaps they could explain to us precisely the purpose of the great bargain offered by Salem, to see the Bon Jovi concert and have a whole day's worth of fun at Ocean Park for only $300 (South China Morning Post, August 11).
Yes, some people over 18 will go and enjoy the music and some already addicted to cigarettes will also go.
However, the majority of those who will flock to see the rock band will be young, impressionable people who will no doubt be exposed to intense advertising from the sponsor, Salem cigarettes.
Surely Midas Promotions could have found a more appropriate sponsor for a young people's event than the manufacturers of a product that is responsible for more preventable chronic ill health and deaths than any other known to man. All it takes is the commitment to find them.
People Acting for a Smokeless Society (PASS) supports the Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) in its criticism of the promoters.
This incident adds weight to the argument for barring tobacco sponsorship of culture and sporting events.
Dr CAROL L. BETSON Chairperson, PASS
