February 7, 2009 - Research has shown that transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) are using tactics long used with devastating effect in Western countries to snare new female smokers in Asia. Kelley Lee from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine led a team of researchers who studied internal documents from the tobacco industry that reveal the scheme to seduce a generation of girls. She said, "Since the opening of the South Korean tobacco market in the late 1980s, females have been targeted by TTCs as an important source of future market growth and profitability. (In 1988 South Korea opened its cigarette market to foreign companies under the threat of US trade sanctions.)
Kelley Lee, Carrie Carpenter, Chaitanya Challa, Sungkyu, Gregory N Connolly and Howard K Koh, The strategic targeting of females by transnational tobacco companies in South Korea following trade liberalisation, Globalization and Health 2009,5:2 doi:10.1186/1744-8603-5-2, Published: 30 January 2009, ABSTRACT/Full TEXT..
Lee concludes, "The implementation of comprehensive tobacco control measures in South Korea, as set out under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is urgently needed to protect and promote the health of Korean women and girls".
Reference: Tobacco companies target girls, esciencenews.com, 1/30/2009; Tobacco companies specifically targeting girls in South Korea, Thaindian.com, 2/1/2009.
Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights - WOMEN
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