The WHO scandal

WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative

Lessons in manipulating the Media:

  1. The global response to World No-Tobacco Day 1999 was ‘overwhelming’ said WHO. How overwhelming was it? The WHO used several tricks to raise the number of submissions. An analysis. PDF
  2. A brochure (Leave the pack behind) was compiled for that day. This brochure contains misleading statements and acts as a PR paper for Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). This brochure was also analysed. PDF
  3. What the tobacco industry is not allowed to do: WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative program is sponsored for over 70% by the pharmaceutical industries that supply NRT products.
    According to their budget overview external funding for this part of WHO was $8,000,000 out of $9,885,000 is >70%. According to their Annual Report (http://wp.forces-nl.org/WHO/pdf/annualtf.pdf) this funding comes from:Glaxo Wellcome, Pharmacia & Upjohn and SmithKline Beecham, through IFPMA/WSMI supported the WNTD 1999; a WHO/Mayo clinic workshop on smoking cessation was supported by Glaxo Wellcome and Pharmacia & Upjohn. Merck & Co. has one staff secondment to TFI. Minnesota Blue Cross/Blue Shield pledged support for the analysis of industry documents and regulation. IDRC of Canada has supported the youth and tobacco project.
  4. WHO’s predictions on the number of smoking related deaths in the world show a strange behaviour when analysed. They even predict ages for people in the third world that never reach these ages (according to their very own mortality/morbidity data). PDF

Hard copy


Order CD-ROM		All relevant documents are stored on a CD-ROM that is available from W+D. A German language book on Passive Smoking (preface), written by the same author, is also available.
Now available: WHO Horror. CD with documents referenced to by the article in Deutches Ärzteblatt

Note: These pages are a result of the co-operation of Forces International and W+D Wissenschaft + Documentation GmbH.

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Citaten

  • "Es ist schwieriger, eine vorgefaßte Meinung zu zertrümmern als ein Atom."
    (Het is moeilijker een vooroordeel aan flarden te schieten dan een atoom.)
    Albert Einstein

  • "Als je alles zou laten dat slecht is voor je gezondheid, dan ging je kapot"
    Anonieme arts

  • "The effects of other people smoking in my presence is so small it doesn't worry me."
    Sir Richard Doll, 2001

  • "Een leugen wordt de waarheid als hij maar vaak genoeg wordt herhaald"
    Joseph Goebbels, Minister van Propaganda, Nazi Duitsland


  • "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
    Mahatma Gandhi

  • "There''s no such thing as perfect air. If there was, God wouldn''t have put bristles in our noses"
    Coun. Bill Clement

  • "Better a smoking freedom than a non-smoking tyranny"
    Antonio Martino, Italiaanse Minister van Defensie

  • "If smoking cigars is not permitted in heaven, I won't go."
    Mark Twain

  • I've alllllllways said that asking smokers "do you want to quit?" and reporting the results of that question, as is, is horribly misleading. It's a TWO part question. After asking if one wants to quit it must be followed up with "Why?" Ask why and the majority of the answers will be "because I'm supposed to" (victims of guilt and propaganda), not "because I want to."
    Audrey Silk, NYCCLASH