These words, spoken by the Sultan of Brunei almost 10 years ago, still ring true today. Indeed, if we are to weigh economy versus health, as far as tobacco is concerned, the obviously simple and obviously wise choice would be to choose health over economy.
The question to ask then is: Are our politicians smarter than a 5th grader? Or are they blinded by vested interests that they will not allow themselves to see the truth and take the right actions to protect their constituents, fellow citizens and fellow human beings, from the many harms of tobacco?
So often, we hear about "free trade" and its purported social benefits. Still, for low and middle income countries, the issue is not just free trade but also "fair trade". And in relation to tobacco, there will never be any "fair trade" because no amount of wealth or economic progress is worth the attendant health, social, economic, and environmental harms of tobacco.
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“There are those
who may argue from the economic standpoint that tobacco is one of the factors
that can generate revenue. However, from another perspective, others found as a
matter of fact that smoking brings with it grave dangers that pose a threat to
health, and indeed life itself.
"Economically,
there may be many alternatives available, but where health and life are
concerned, do we have any alternative? The answer is clearly no. There are no
alternatives as far as health and life are concerned, because health and life
are all that we have.
"Therefore, the
issue before us is really quite obvious, whether we want to survive with
smoking from the economic viewpoint, which has many alternatives, or do we
choose one that totally has no alternative that is to safeguard health and save
lives? ”
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