Here is part of an interview he gave during the recent Livestrong Cancer Summit that took place in Dublin.
How does Africa fit in when it comes to global tobacco use?
Africa has relatively low tobacco use prevalence rates. But it has the fastest increasing prevalence rates. They're low compared to China, where 60 percent of the men smoke, but they're going up faster than anywhere in the world. We at the American Cancer Society are committed to doing tobacco control in Africa because here's a chance to prevent an epidemic of disease that otherwise will happen.
Source: All Africa.com
The tobacco industry is rapaciously promoting its product in all areas of the world where prevalence rates are low. So we're targeting Africa and we need to get on the ground with prevention programs before it's too late. It's a lot easier to prevent people from starting ever to smoke than it is to get them to quit because it's so addictive. Here's an opportunity to get dramatic results and that is to prevent what has become the single largest cause of preventable death in the world: addiction to tobacco.
How might you go about doing that in Africa?
The number one thing that can be done in any part of Africa is to change current public policies. If every country in Africa would implement the protocols of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control they could get dramatic results.
What can be done, irrespective of the infrastructure [challenges], is they can insist on smoke-free areas, where no one has to be exposed to second-hand smoke, where they work and in public places. Number two - a ban on advertizing, especially to children. Number three - raising the tax on tobacco products so they are less affordable. This intervention is particularly good at keeping children from getting addicted.
These are things that can be done irrespective of economic development.
It doesn't take a million dollars to implement these [policies]. It takes the courage to change existing practices and existing policies.
What kind of role have the foundations of Lance Armstrong, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bill and Melinda Gates played in fighting cancer in the developing world?
Extraordinary. The Bloomberg Initiative, and now the Gates Initiative and the Lance Armstrong Initiative are going to save a lot of lives. We at the American Cancer Society did a study a number of years ago and pointed out that, taking out North America and Australia, less than 100 million dollars was being spent on all of the efforts for tobacco control in the entire world. Based on the size of the problem it is no investment whatsoever.
For the first time now we have high visibility, which Lance Armstrong brings to the issue. He's the first world champion to come out of retirement and return to competitive sport not for profit but for a cause. He shows that the hopeful side of cancer has never been more hopeful. He brings visibility to the problem and shows that you can survive the disease.
The investment of the Gates Foundation and the Bloomberg Foundation will allow us then to develop capacity on the ground in continents like Africa. We've proven in other parts of the world that if you get activists involved at the ground level you can change public policy and you can change human behavior. It will save a lot of lives and prevent a huge amount of suffering.
Remember, in the world, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death and that has a huge economic burden, not to mention what it means in terms of individual and family suffering.
What comes next, after the summit?
There were 500 delegates from 64 countries and what comes next I believe is for people who were here to collaborate better together, to join hands. What comes next is the beginning of a movement that coalesces people, gets people together to develop a kind of solidarity. We all have other things to do back home but we're all going to join together, put this on the list and make something happen.
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