STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Critics Assail Philip Morris Report on Smoking Lee Dembart International Herald Tribune Wednesday, July 18, 2001 Tobacco Giant's Analysis Says Premature Deaths Cut Costs in Pensions and Health Care The tobacco giant Philip Morris was flayed Tuesday for an economic analysis concluding that smoking is good for government coffers because it causes people to die prematurely, thereby saving pension and health care costs. In a report to the government of the Czech Republic that was made public Monday, the tobacco company estimated that the net economic benefit of smoking there was about 5.82 billion koruna ($147.1 million) in 1999. The report put the company's argument starkly: "Our principal finding is that the negative financial effects of smoking - such as increased health care costs - are more than offset by positive effects such as excise tax and value-added taxes collected on tobacco products." The monetary estimate of benefits was based on the fact that the average smoker dies 4.3 years to 5.23 years earlier than a nonsmoker and is therefore less of an economic drain. The report, which was prepared by the consulting firm Arthur D. Little International, appeared to be one of the first direct acknowledgments by a tobacco company that smoking kills. The industry has previously recognized that cigarettes cause serious diseases, including cancer, but this report accepted without argument that smokers die prematurely. The report also acknowledged that second- hand smoke can be a health threat to nonsmokers. The British-based group Action on Smoking and Health said the study was "a sort of extermination program for the newly retired." "The whole exercise is repellent and should be dismissed," said John Connolly, its public affairs manager. "Philip Morris is whispering in the ear of the Czech government, saying: 'Look, we can help you deal with those expensive old people, so why don't you go easy on controlling smoking?'" Philip Morris, which makes 80 percent of the cigarettes sold in the Czech Republic, said it received the report in November and gave it to the Czech government recently in response to Health Ministry claims that smoking constitutes an economic drain. The company said that the report was only intended as economic data. "We deeply regret any impression that premature death of smokers could represent a benefit for society," Remi Calvet, communications director for Philip Morris at European headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, said in a statement. "Tobacco is a controversial industry, but we are still an industry and sometimes we need some economic data on our industry." Ales Janku, head of public relations at Philip Morris, Czech Republic, said the company thought Parliament was going to raise taxes on cigarettes in an effort to harmonize taxes with the European Union. Czech cigarette taxes are 42 percent compared with EU recommendations of 59 percent. Otakar Cerny, a spokesman for the Czech Health Ministry, dismissed such arguments. "No government can calculate with reports like that," he said. "The health minister leads an irreconcilable struggle with smoking so that Czech citizens live long and healthy lives." In a statement released in Washington, Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said, "Philip Morris's cost- benefit analysis of the consequence of smoking represents not only bad economics but a callous disregard for life." Michelle Di Leo of the British Lung Foundation asked, "What will Philip Morris argue next, that we should put people down at 50 because it would save us all a lot of money on health care?" ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
