[Publish date: 24 November 2008]
Dr. Judith Mackay MBE: "THE FREEDOM TO SMOKE - is it really FREEDOM or is it a lifelong BONDAGE and ADDICTION?"
Hong Kong’s very own Dr. Judith Mackay, MBE is one of the world’s leading campaigners against the tobacco industry. Hailing from Scotland, Dr. Mackay and her husband, both medical doctors, have made their home in Hong Kong for more than 30 years. She is highly articulate on the subject; through her work, millions of lives have been saved and many more people have been educated to the dangers of smoking. iCUBED.us is proud to have an exclusive interview with this remarkable woman on the eve of her acknowledgment by Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008.
JM: Judith Mackay
JP: Jenny Pang (interviewer for iCUBED.us)
This preliminary interview was done via e-mail, in September 2008.
iCUBED.us: What was the recent World Cancer Congress in Geneva specifically about?
JM: Patterns, prevention, treatment of all types of cancer. Tobacco was well represented throughout the meeting as being one of the largest, preventable causes of many cancers, not just lung cancer.
iCUBED.us: You started out as a medical physician. Was there a particular event or realization that made you decide to focus your energies on the tobacco epidemic instead? Or was that something you’ve always worked towards?
JM: I was working in a medical department in HKU Queen Mary Hospital, then the UCH in Kwun Tong, for a total of nine years. I came to realize that many of the illnesses I was treating could be prevented. In fact, we had a maxim on our male medical ward that we never admitted a non-smoker. Of course, you still need an “ambulance service” to treat people who are sick, but more doctors should move into an earlier stage and work in prevention.
I was very involved with fighting for women’s rights in Hong Kong, and became interested in women’s health. I came to realize that tobacco related complications killed more women than all methods of contraception combined, and that women’s health was much broader than gynecology. Tobacco was a MAJOR health hazard in women’s lives. Also the tobacco companies were targeting, even bombarding women with advertising in the 1980s in Hong Kong. (I have photos to prove this)
I was writing a series on health in the South China Morning Post, and the tobacco industry denounced me, calling me “entirely unrepresentative and unaccountable.” They went on to say that “The tobacco industry comprises identifiable, legal, accountable, commercial organizations.” I was outraged, and worked in tobacco control from then on! So, in a funny way, I have the tobacco industry to thank for my change of career from curative to preventive medicine.
The industry and their supporters later threatened me with lawsuits, and used other names like:
• Psychotic human garbage
• A gibbering Satan
• An insane psychotic just like Hitler
• Using fatuous, smarmy drivel & distortions, and diatribes full of putrid corruption, lies, conspiracy, & total censorship.
• Devoid of any sanity, any morality, or any human-being-ness of any kind
• Nothing more than an evil-possessed, power-lusting piece of meat and they threatened to 'utterly destroy' me.
So you can see the way they behave!
iCUBED.us: What part did you play in bringing about the 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control?
JM: As below.
• The initial messenger, taking the idea from Dr. Ruth Roemer to WHO (World Health Organization) in 1993.
• Working within WHO to adopt the idea.
• Working with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and world conferences to support the idea.
• Being on Dr. (Gro Harlem) Brundtland’s Transition Team, and persuading her to make TFI (the Tobacco-Free Initiative) a cabinet project when she became Director General (of WHO).
• Working since then as a PSAC Chair, WHO Senior Policy Advisor, attending all INB (Intergovernmental negotiating body) meetings on the WHO team, and working with countries to assist in steering the process.
• Authoring The Tobacco Atlas, first published by WHO (evaluation, see Gates!)
iCUBED.us: What do you consider your greatest coup?
JM: As below.
• The FCTC (the Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco Control, the first treaty negotiated under the WHO to reaffirm the rights of all people to the highest standards of health).
• The Tobacco Atlases.
• Putting women and tobacco on the map.
• Putting the issues of smoking in developing countries on the map.
iCUBED.us: What are the tobacco industry’s primary tactics for selling tobacco to youth? Are these the same worldwide?
JM: Yes, the tactics are pretty much the same worldwide. They spend a lot of money. Today’s 18 year-olds have grown up during a period in which over $100 billion has been spent to market cigarettes in the United States alone.
They deny that they market to youth, but portray smoking as cool, etc.
Throughout the world, tobacco companies are employing deceptive and subliminal forms of advertising, particularly through brand placement and the inclusion of smoking behaviors in movies. Smoking in movies serves as a powerful inducement to youth; the effect may be even stronger than traditional cigarette advertising.
Youth start smoking to experiment, show bravado, peer pressure, etc, but quickly become addicted to a habit most would prefer to quit, when they realize it is dangerous and expensive. Most smokers don’t want their children to smoke, for example.
iCUBED.us: Which of the tobacco industry’s selling tactics have been most effective in causing addiction in youth? What should youth watch out for?
JM: They have portrayed smoking /smokers as healthy, glamorous, wealthy, successful, popular, manly, sexy, rebellious, etc
Youth should watch out for the Tobacco industry’s own youth programmes, as they usually bear the message that you should not smoke until you are an adult! A sure way to encourage youth to smoke!
iCUBED.us: How can tobacco control advocates tackle the tobacco industry¹s selling tactics?
JM: It is difficult, as they have so much less money to spend on health promotion.
They can expose the tactics of the tobacco industry, work with the media, explain the massive environmental effects of smoking (Cutting down trees to cure tobacco, use of paper for cigarettes, packs, packaging; discarding of matches, cigarette butts and lighters; use of land to grow tobacco that could grow food) and the economic effects on governments, employers and the smokers themselves.
iCUBED.us: Do you tend to concentrate your efforts on tobacco demand reduction, or on supply reduction? Or do you focus equal energies on both?
JM: Virtually all on demand reduction.
iCUBED.us: As the World Lung Foundation¹s project coordinator, what plans do you have for Bloomberg’s donation to the foundation?
JM: As below.
• already underway
• grants programme (e.g. for Beijing Olympics) in low and middle-income countries
• regional Centres opened in Beijing, Delhi, Mexico, Middle East
• training for media, advocates
• third edition of The Tobacco Atlas
• a Youth Tobacco Atlas
• supporting the WHO FCTC
iCUBED.us: You mentioned the effects of smoking on youth, beyond cancer and heart disease. Can you elaborate on that?
JM: Cancer and heart disease usually develop after several decades of smoking. Effects on youth are more (as below).
iCUBED.us: What initiatives or campaigns have proven most effective in educating youth about the tobacco epidemic?
JM: Taxation is easily the most important tool to reduce teen smoking, as higher prices make cigarettes less affordable. And, if you don’t start as a teen, you are not likely to start as an adult. Many other things help: smoke-free areas, media.
iCUBED.us: How do you answer to corporations claims that limiting their advertising power would be infringing on their right to freedom of speech?
JM: As below.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
“3. The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant”.
Also, tobacco advertising is misleading in the extreme, as mentioned above; selling glamour and freedom, whereas the reality is that smoking is bondage, not a freedom. You only have to smoke about 100 cigarettes to risk becoming a lifelong smoker. And regarding passive smoking, no one has the right to harm others. |
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Comments
I disagree with Dr. Mackay
It's been a month and a half since this was posted, and I'm probably late on commenting but I have to say I disagree profoundly with Dr. Mackay.
I myself am a kid and do not smoke, nor plan on ever smoking.
However, I do think that (forgive me if I misunderstand any parts of this article) it is fair to have force smoke-free areas nor limit corporation's advertising powers.
While Dr. Mackay does not delve into defending smoke-free areas, I think it is completely unfair to make private (and to a certain extent, public) places smoke-free. This should be the decision of the owners. If indeed people are bothered enough by cigarette smoke, they will stop visiting the pub and the owners will have to voluntarily ban smoking to reattract customers.
Also, I draw issue with "The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant." I don't think it's enough to simply state a law, but you must be able to argue for it.
Everyone agrees on freedom of speech, but does "public health or morals" really fall under advertisement? If the companies were injecting everyone with nicotine to get them addicted, they should be stopped, as they are hurting public health.
I believe Dr. Mackay is arguing that if you take a cigarette, you're hurting yourself, which is wrong. But you are allowed to waive your own rights: freedom of speech does not mean you have to be speaking 24/7; having a right to health does not mean you cannot destroy it.
I think it's fine to try and promote awareness about the dangers of tobacco and to run counter-campaigns but I think forcing someone or a corporation to do something crosses the line.
I'd be very interested in what Dr. Mackay (on the unlikely event that she still checks this article) or anyone has to say.