Subsequently, Swiss voters casted their votes on tobacco advertising on February 13th, and 56.6% of voters supported the “Yes to the protection of children against tobacco advertising” people’s initiative.
Switzerland, has been known for being the home base of the world’s tobacco giants and also for having in place some of the weakest tobacco laws in the world. Earlier this year a WHO official complained that despite the fact that this year’s World Health Organization conference FCTC COP8, was held in Geneva, Switzerland has not yet ratified the tobacco control treaty.
Infact Switzerland is amongst the 13 countries which have not endorsed the FCTC, partly due to regulations related to advertising. Some of the other countries such as the United States, Argentina, Malawi and Cuba, are thought to have rejected the treaty as they tend to be the main tobacco growers.
The majority of Switzerland’s 26 cantons backed the proposal
Despite this, the majority of the country’s 26 cantons backed the proposal for tighter tobacco advertising restrictions. People living in French- and Italian-speaking cantons and urban areas tended to be in support of the call, while citizens in a number of German-speaking cantons from central and eastern Switzerland, were largely against the initiative.
Grégoire Vittoz, director of the NGO Addiction Switzerland, said the result marked a “big step forward” in the fight against smoking in the nation. “This is a clear message from the people to parliament that we don’t want the current legislation. We want to protect our children,” Vittoz told Swiss public television, RTS. “The people have understood that health is more important than economic interests,” Stefanie de Borba of the League against Cancer told the AFP news agency.
Read Further: SwissInfo.ch
