The "La Graciosa without smoke" campaign continues to spark criticism both inside and outside the Canary Islands, asking the Teguise City Council to rectify and disassociate itself from what they consider to be a "marketing operation" by the tobacco company Philips Morris, which aims to "use" the image of the eighth island to promote other products "equally harmful to health".
The National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT) has even joined the controversy, sending a letter to the mayor, Oswaldo Betancort, requesting the withdrawal of the campaign. In their letter, they emphasize that this collaboration with Philips Morris International "violates the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, in force since February 27, 2005 in Spain", which "prohibits the sponsorship or participation of the tobacco industry in events and activities, whose ultimate goal is none other than to promote their products."
The same message had already been launched from the College of Physicians of Las Palmas and the College of Dentists, among others, and the Council of Official Pharmaceutical Associations of the Canary Islands has also joined this Thursday. This entity, which represents the pharmacists of the Autonomous Community, has shown its "frontal opposition" to the campaign "La Graciosa without smoke" that has been launched by the tobacco company in collaboration with the Teguise City Council.
"We pharmacists understand that the image of one of our islands is being used with a clear marketing strategy to disguise, under a false appearance of 'good intentions', the objective of increasing sales of tobacco-derived products, such as IQOS devices, clearly harmful to the health and well-being of citizens," they warn in a statement.
In this regard, they point out that these products "expose consumers to chemical and toxic compounds produced by the heating of glycerin, propylene glycol, nicotine and the aromas contained in the liquids of these products that, in addition, release carcinogens, such as formaldehyde, glycidol and propylene oxide, with potential health risks."
In addition, as other colleges of health professionals had already done, they warn that this action promoted by the Teguise City Council "contravenes the restriction of sponsorship and participation in events and activities where tobacco companies are involved, as established in 2003 in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization."
"As health professionals, we are obliged to denounce this type of campaigns that mask harmful intentions on the health of the people we must protect and care for, and as professional associations, we support the public complaints that other collegiate institutions, foundations, associations and groups have carried out in the face of these events," they conclude in their statement.
For its part, the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking has even launched "a challenge" to the mayor: "to promote an attractive island for tourism, through the application of the necessary measures to consider it free of tobacco smoke and aerosols provided by heated tobacco products and devices susceptible to nicotine release." That is, also excluding the products that Philips Morris intends to promote.
In this regard, they emphasize that "the large tobacco companies, with market power, marketing intelligence and immense budgets, use large communication agencies to have an impact on the different target audiences, repositioning their nicotine delivery devices in the market."
In addition, it warns that they also "invest in public relations in various events, sponsorships, creating a corporate image of social responsibility and apparent interest in health, hijacking public health concepts such as harm reduction, even setting goals to achieve a tobacco-free generation" and "interfere at all social and political levels to delay and weaken tobacco control policies."
