Swiss vote to reduce tobacco advertising

BENN .- The Swiss, who usually defend the country’s economic interests vigorously, agreed on Sunday, through a consultation, to ban tobacco advertising in sites accessible to children and teenagers.

According to the federal chancellor, the result was approved by a majority of 16 cantons out of 26, and nearly 57% of the vote. “We are very happy,” Stephanie de Borba of the Swiss Association for Cancer Control told AFP when the first results were published. “People have understood that health is more important than economic interests,” he added.

Until now, this Alpine country, where one in four people smokes, has had very lax tobacco advertising legislation, especially thanks to the powerful lobby of the world’s largest tobacco companies, such as Philip Morris, who are headquartered there.

Thus, advertising in the press, posters, the Internet, cinema and during demonstrations will be prohibited. The same rules apply to the electronic cigarette.

In addition, the Swiss refused to ban laboratory tests on animals and humans, with 79% of the commandments. Swiss authorities and pharmaceutical companies have argued that animal experimentation is vital to the advancement of medical science,

But they also feared that eventual approval of the initiative would deal a severe blow to the national economy given that the pharmaceutical sector, with local multinationals such as Roche or Novartis, generates 9% of Swiss GDP and accounts for nearly half of its exports.

Swiss voters have also rejected the government’s plan to pump more than 150 million francs (about $163 million) into print and broadcast media each year, and critics of the plan say the infusion will waste taxpayers, benefit major newspaper chains and media moguls, and harm the independence of the press.