5th International Cancer Control Congress

Contribution of the Peruvian Commission against tobacco (COLAT PERU)

Dr Luis Pinillos - National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases (INEM), Lima, Peru

I presented today the actions of the anti-tobacco coalition in Peru. I would say that we have advanced a lot in the last 25 years. The population has a growing knowledge of the risk of smoking and we have advanced a lot in our advocacy to obtain good laws, laws that ban smoking in public places, that ban advertising in public places, advertising in radio and television absolutely banned. Of course we are fighting David against Goliath and the thing is that for every law we get the industry will fight us legally and try to say it’s not constitutional. But the good thing is we have managed to obtain the support of the population and, for example, we have managed to do press conferences with all the former Ministers of Health in Peru. That is the only issue for which twelve or thirteen of us get together and publically express support for a law. That is a very big influence on the general politicians here and the population of course, knowing that all the Ministers of Health, or the former Ministers of Health, are involved and they are supporting something that’s really a health issue and not an economical issue.