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SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE (Fill in items in [BOLD], and feel free to modify to suit your needs!) For Immediate Release: [DATE] Contact: [YOUR NAME] Contact: Anna White, Essential Action (Washington, DC) Contact: Infact, regional coordinator for Network for Accountability
of Tobacco Transnationals [YOUR ORGANIZATION] Joins in 3rd International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals (March 4-8) [YOUR CITY] - Tobacco control groups around the world are calling on countries to support a strong global treaty on tobacco control during the International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnational 2002 (IWR2002), leading up to the 4th round of negotiations of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Geneva (March 18-23). The first Week of Resistance in October 2000 included events in 40 countries, coinciding with the first round of formal negotiations on the Framework Convention. The theme of IWR2002 is "Public Health Before Corporate Globalization." The event is organized by the Network for Accountability of Transnationals (NATT) and co-sponsored by Essential Action's Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control program. "This treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is an important tool for reining in transnational tobacco corporations. We are demanding that public health policy be free of the influence of Philip Morris, B.A.T., and the rest of the tobacco industry, so that the FCTC can accomplish its purpose -- protecting human lives, not corporate profit," says [YOUR NAME AND ORGANIZATION]. [GIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR IWR2002 EVENT (IF APPLICABLE), YOUR In an example of how globalization can harm public health, tobacco transnationals are bypassing governments through trade and investment agreements to expand their markets. Over 4 million people die each year from tobacco-related illnesses, and the World Health Organization projects that figure will rise to 10 million people each year by 2030, with 70% of those deaths in developing countries. NATT is releasing a report this month on tobacco transnational activities since May 2001 to undermine the FCTC and national public health legislation. Philip Morris and B.A.T. not only have targeted the WHO but also have hampered the ability of sovereign nations -- from the Czech Republic to the Philippines -- to pass effective tobacco control and public health measures. In the face of indisputable evidence of tobacco industry subversion of public health policy at the global level, government representatives are joining NATT in calling for proactive measures. In 2001, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution that calls on WHO to monitor the impact of the political activities of tobacco corporations, and urge govenrments to be open about any connections between their representatives and the tobacco industry in order to improve transparency in the tobacco control process. NATT and GPTC members want the FCTC to include measures to protect public health policy from undue influence by the tobacco transnationals. "Activists and organizations are rallying in the face of a straggering epidemic driven by powerful tobacco transnationals. With images like the Marlboro Man, Philip Morris is spreading addiction, disease and death around the world, and then trying to preempt government tobacco control policy through trade and investment agreements. Through the FCTC, the international community can prevent trade and investment rules that favor the tobacco transnationals from devastating millions of lives as well as the economies of developing countries," says [YOUR NAME AND ORGANIZATION] [QUOTE FROM PARTNER?] "From Argentina to Zambia, the world is holding tobacco transnatioinals accountable, to ensure the FCTC prioritizes health over trade," concludes [YOUR NAME AND ORGANIZATION] ### [INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR GROUP] Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control (GPTC), a program of the [DC/US - BASED] corporate accountability group Essential Action, pairs groups in the U.S. and Canada with groups in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. More than 360 groups from over 90 countries and 35 U.S. states are involved. For more information visit www.essentialaction.org/tobacco The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) includes 75 consumer, human rights, environmental, faith-based, public health, and corporate accountability NGOs from 50 countries advocating a tough, enforceable FCTC. For more information, visit www.infact.org |