A study in the capital of this province shows that in Córdoba, tobacco companies continue to advertise their products at points of sale through shelves and exhibitors.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
CORDOBA. Smoking is an epidemic that represents a global problem with devastating health, social, economic and environmental consequences. Today it is responsible for more than 6 million annual deaths worldwide and for health and environmental costs that exceed tax revenues from tobacco taxes. This epidemic takes more lives than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria together, and represents the leading cause of preventable premature death globally. Every year, 600,000 people die from smoking due to exposure to second-hand smoke, of which 1 in 4 are boys and girls.
Since one is born is exposed to stimuli that position the act of smoking as synonymous with success, sensuality and security. From movies to cartoons, our unconscious is suggested by the idea that smoking is normal, sexy and pleasurable. Who does not remember Clint Eastwood in “The good, the bad and the ugly” as a stereotype of a hard and righteous man, smoking a cigar after killing the bad guys? Humphrey Bogart, Agent 007, James Dean, Sherlock Holmes or John Travolta are examples of being a smoker is part of the success. A study by the British Medical Journal claims that tobacco companies paid millions of dollars to Hollywood stars in exchange for promoting their brands in feature films.
Women also did not escape the association of smoking with female liberation, emancipation, rebellion and the idea that smoking complements a femme fatale perfectly. The situation is outrageous if we consider that there were also interests for cartoon characters to smoke: we saw smoking on the small screen at The Picapiedras, Tom and Jerry, Professor Jirafales, Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzalez, Lucas Duck, Porky Pork, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tribilín, Donald Duck and even the Argentine Pucho smoked his cigar with apparent pleasure.
In this context, it is not surprising that the onset age of people in tobacco consumption is at 12 or 13 years, after a whole childhood to which they were exposed to stimuli of this type.
The Argentine tobacco regulation law, enacted in 2011, seeks to protect citizens from the impact of smoking and reduce harm, especially in children and adolescents, who are more vulnerable to advertisements and promotions.
This law meant the end of campaigns, commercials, sporting events and fashion shows sponsored by cigarette brands; By restricting advertising, promotions and sponsorships: only ads are allowed in points of sale, in publications of companies in the sector or through direct communication, with consent and verification of the age of potential recipients.
Although this legislation meant an advance, in our country still 44 thousand people die every year due to diseases derived from smoking. One in four adults smokes. The health cost attributable to this cause is 33 thousand million pesos per year, much more than the tax collected for tobacco and 12% of the total budget allocated to public health in our country.
A survey that we carried out in Córdoba showed as the main result that the exhibition of cigarette packets is the main strategy of companies to promote their products. The regulatory decree establishes conditions regarding advertising, but says nothing about the exhibition. Thus, an advertisement should not be more than 30 x 30 cm, be static, have two dimensions, have no light or be seen from the outside of the point of sale and be accompanied by the corresponding health message. But nothing says expressly about the display of products through shelves.
The data collection instrument used as a reference a protocol developed by the California Tobacco Advertising Study. The industry promotes consumption with strategies that reach everyone. Taking advantage of the legal vacuum, they comply with the conditions on advertising, but dedicate resources to the exhibition. In terms of visibility and brand promotion, the effect is as strong as that of advertising.
In areas where there is a greater investment in promotional items are those that concentrate more students. The images and messages naturalize the consumption, favor the identification and memory of the marks, and increase the need to smoke even in people who try to leave it.
In this context, it is essential to establish a ban on advertising and promotion of tobacco products, without exceptions. According to studies conducted by WHO, the elimination of any form of advertising, promotion and sponsorship is one of the most effective measures to prevent consumption. Thus, it would follow the line of provinces like Santa Fe or Neuquén, or of countries like Colombia, Uruguay or Panama.
For this reason, we present a bill to the Health Commission of the Córdoba Legislature, which prohibits the advertising and promotion of tobacco products without exceptions, including all strategies for displaying products at points of sale.
This is a complex situation, which must be approached with comprehensive policies, from various angles and with the commitment of many actors in society, but without ignoring the fundamental role that the State can play in the prevention of these diseases.
Some data to highlight as a result of the survey
- 7 out of 10 kiosks in Córdoba use promotional strategies for tobacco products.
- Of the kiosks with promotional strategies, 9 out of 10 do so in a way that is visible from the outside of the point of sale.
- In all the kiosks surveyed there are shelves to organize the cigarette ties. 85% of them are visible from the outside of the point of sale.
- 76% of kiosks have industrialized shelves. In neighborhoods with greater student presence, there is a greater investment in promotional and advertising objects.
- In most kiosks, the products with the most prominent and attractive promotional strategies were tobacco products.
- Tobacco advertising is mainly located near the box, which is the area of highest visibility of the points of sale.
- No kiosk contained notice about the prohibition of the sale of cigarettes to children under 18 years.
More information
Authors
Federico Piccioni
Agustina Mozzoni
Contact
Juan Carballo, <juanmcarballo@fundeps.org>
Leyes de Acceso a la Información Pública en Argentina – June 2017
El documento destaca los aspectos más importantes relacionados al derecho de acceso a la información pública en los distintos distritos de Argentina (Provincias y Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires).
Strategies for an industry that does not want to smoke
A study in the capital of this province shows that in Córdoba, tobacco companies continue to advertise their products at points of sale through shelves and exhibitors.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
CORDOBA. Smoking is an epidemic that represents a global problem with devastating health, social, economic and environmental consequences. Today it is responsible for more than 6 million annual deaths worldwide and for health and environmental costs that exceed tax revenues from tobacco taxes. This epidemic takes more lives than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria together, and represents the leading cause of preventable premature death globally. Every year, 600,000 people die from smoking due to exposure to second-hand smoke, of which 1 in 4 are boys and girls.
Since one is born is exposed to stimuli that position the act of smoking as synonymous with success, sensuality and security. From movies to cartoons, our unconscious is suggested by the idea that smoking is normal, sexy and pleasurable. Who does not remember Clint Eastwood in “The good, the bad and the ugly” as a stereotype of a hard and righteous man, smoking a cigar after killing the bad guys? Humphrey Bogart, Agent 007, James Dean, Sherlock Holmes or John Travolta are examples of being a smoker is part of the success. A study by the British Medical Journal claims that tobacco companies paid millions of dollars to Hollywood stars in exchange for promoting their brands in feature films.
Women also did not escape the association of smoking with female liberation, emancipation, rebellion and the idea that smoking complements a femme fatale perfectly. The situation is outrageous if we consider that there were also interests for cartoon characters to smoke: we saw smoking on the small screen at The Picapiedras, Tom and Jerry, Professor Jirafales, Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzalez, Lucas Duck, Porky Pork, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tribilín, Donald Duck and even the Argentine Pucho smoked his cigar with apparent pleasure.
In this context, it is not surprising that the onset age of people in tobacco consumption is at 12 or 13 years, after a whole childhood to which they were exposed to stimuli of this type.
The Argentine tobacco regulation law, enacted in 2011, seeks to protect citizens from the impact of smoking and reduce harm, especially in children and adolescents, who are more vulnerable to advertisements and promotions.
This law meant the end of campaigns, commercials, sporting events and fashion shows sponsored by cigarette brands; By restricting advertising, promotions and sponsorships: only ads are allowed in points of sale, in publications of companies in the sector or through direct communication, with consent and verification of the age of potential recipients.
Although this legislation meant an advance, in our country still 44 thousand people die every year due to diseases derived from smoking. One in four adults smokes. The health cost attributable to this cause is 33 thousand million pesos per year, much more than the tax collected for tobacco and 12% of the total budget allocated to public health in our country.
A survey that we carried out in Córdoba showed as the main result that the exhibition of cigarette packets is the main strategy of companies to promote their products. The regulatory decree establishes conditions regarding advertising, but says nothing about the exhibition. Thus, an advertisement should not be more than 30 x 30 cm, be static, have two dimensions, have no light or be seen from the outside of the point of sale and be accompanied by the corresponding health message. But nothing says expressly about the display of products through shelves.
The data collection instrument used as a reference a protocol developed by the California Tobacco Advertising Study. The industry promotes consumption with strategies that reach everyone. Taking advantage of the legal vacuum, they comply with the conditions on advertising, but dedicate resources to the exhibition. In terms of visibility and brand promotion, the effect is as strong as that of advertising.
In areas where there is a greater investment in promotional items are those that concentrate more students. The images and messages naturalize the consumption, favor the identification and memory of the marks, and increase the need to smoke even in people who try to leave it.
In this context, it is essential to establish a ban on advertising and promotion of tobacco products, without exceptions. According to studies conducted by WHO, the elimination of any form of advertising, promotion and sponsorship is one of the most effective measures to prevent consumption. Thus, it would follow the line of provinces like Santa Fe or Neuquén, or of countries like Colombia, Uruguay or Panama.
For this reason, we present a bill to the Health Commission of the Córdoba Legislature, which prohibits the advertising and promotion of tobacco products without exceptions, including all strategies for displaying products at points of sale.
This is a complex situation, which must be approached with comprehensive policies, from various angles and with the commitment of many actors in society, but without ignoring the fundamental role that the State can play in the prevention of these diseases.
Some data to highlight as a result of the survey
More information
Authors
Federico Piccioni
Agustina Mozzoni
Contact
Juan Carballo, <juanmcarballo@fundeps.org>
The law that prevents promotion is mocked
Daniel Passerini, the legislator anticipated that today, to be World No Tobacco Day, will raise the proposal of a complete ban on advertising to acquire parliamentary status.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”
In Argentina, it is prohibited to place posters that can be seen from the outside of the premises in the places where tobacco products are sold. However, entities that campaign to avoid smoking say that today the law is mocked in different ways.
A survey carried out in May in Córdoba by the Foundation for Sustainable Policy Development (Fundeps) showed that the display of cigarette packets (usually framed with lights) is the main strategy of companies to promote their products. “Although the regulatory decree of Law 26,687 establishes conditions regarding advertising, nothing says about the exhibition,” said the entity.
Juan Carballo, Executive Director of Fundeps, informed La Voz that, after reporting this situation to head of the Health Commission of the unicameral, Daniel Passerini, the legislator anticipated that today, to be World No Tobacco Day, Proposal for a complete prohibition of publicity to acquire parliamentary status.
Fuente: La Voz del Interior
Under Big and pollution, the combination that most worries
According to a survey in Chacras de la Merced, it is the main problem for the neighbors who live downstream of the plant. 80 percent believe that it works poorly and 83 percent are uneasy about the environmental situation in the sector.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”
Most of the residents living downstream of the Bajo Grande Sewage Treatment Plant (Edar) consider that the most troubling and urgent solution is the contamination caused by the malfunction of the plant.
The data comes from a survey of 53 of the 120 families living in the neighborhood of Chacras de la Merced, in the eastern end of the city of Cordoba. The survey was carried out by the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps).
Juan Carballo, executive director of the foundation, explained that sought the opinion of the neighbors of the area, very impacted by the volleys of Edar.
To this plant come all the sewage effluents that, for years, are thrown to the river Suquía with deficiencies in the treatment. In that part of the city, the presence of foul smell is frequent and the Suquía resembles an open-air sewer. The survey was in December and data was processed in March.
Out of the 53 families surveyed, 34 (64 percent) of them gave the number one priority and urgency to the pollution caused by Bajo Grande. Open dumps occupied a second place, with 37.7 percent of responses.
Eighty-three percent of families do not feel comfortable with the neighborhood’s environmental situation.
For the majority of the inhabitants (75 percent), the main concern is the contamination of the river that produces Edar.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of neighbors consider air pollution to be a primary concern, while 26 percent consider it to be the soil, and cause the Bajo Grande plant to be the cause.
The performance
Although most of the neighbors (59 percent) do not know about the work and operation of Edar, 80 percent consider that it is not walking properly.
Regarding the direct effects of the malfunction, 46.5 percent consider it to be the contamination of the Suquía and 42 percent believe that they are the health problems.
At this point, 69 percent said they had any of the symptoms listed: 28 percent diarrhea; 49 percent fever and vomiting; 54 percent abdominal pain; 13.5 percent had bleeding in the stool; 43 percent weakness or fatigue; 16 percent anemia; 35 percent respiratory problems; 32 percent skin rashes; And 40 percent skin infections.
Seventy-seven percent were seen by a doctor after symptoms, and 78 percent were diagnosed of what happened, mostly related to gastroenteritis or allergy.
“It is important to mention the impossibility of proving the causality of the pollution generated by the plant and the symptoms that a large part of the neighbors of the neighborhood present. However, it is necessary to be attentive to the general state of health of the neighborhood, which includes a large percentage of gastrointestinal problems, warns the study.
Finally, the survey detected a lack of knowledge about the Edar expansion, although he believes that the situation will improve. And they consider that there must be instances of citizen control.
What is Edar. The first reports of the lack of treatment of sewage in the Lower Sewage Treatment Plant (Edar) date back to 1998. The residential connections to the sewage network totaled 165,000 and the sewage treatment plant was already Surpassed in its capacity. La Edar, inaugurated in 1987, had been planned for 77 thousand connections. In 2011, an expansion of the plant was enabled, but continues to pollute.
Fuente: La Voz del Interior
We participated in the workshop on advocacy actions against Chinese investments in the region
Representatives of civil society and native communities participated in the workshop in the city of Bogotá (Colombia). The result was the elaboration of an agenda that complements the territorial demands of the affected communities with the proposals raised from civil society and the academy.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
On May 17 and 18, the workshop was organized by the Regional Group on Financing and Infrastructure and the Regional Coalition for Transparency and Participation. The workshop sought to strengthen the joint action of civil society (communities, movements and social organizations, national and local) that are being affected by projects financed by Chinese banking and what monitor the social and environmental impacts of these investments in Latin America.
Topics related to the social and environmental policies currently implemented by Chinese institutions, the analysis of Chinese funding in the region, the projects to which it is intended and the identification of the impacts of these projects on the environment and human rights were addressed. We attended civil society representatives from Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and representatives of native and peasant communities.
We emphasize the alarming situation of environmental defenders in Chinese investment contexts in countries of the region, who are not only criminalized for the defense of their collective rights but also lack the protection of the State . We succeeded in strengthening the Continental Alliance to follow up on Chinese investments to face the geopolitical strategy that seeks to maintain the constant export model of raw materials in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Those of us participating in the workshop agree that weakening the environmental and social frameworks of the region does not guarantee respect for the rights of the communities involved in the area of influence of the projects that are financed by Chinese banks. Added to this is the non-binding nature of the Chinese banking guidelines. The non-existence of protection at the national level and at the level of multilateral banking puts the communities that are being affected by the investment at risk.
As a result of the Workshop, an advocacy agenda was drawn up that brings together and complements the territorial demands of the affected communities with the reform proposals put forward by civil society and academia. In this regard, at the international level, new standards for companies and Chinese banking are proposed that guarantee compliance, greater participation and effective consultation processes; At the national level, a joint strategy that will reverse the weakening of socio-environmental legislation and provide guarantees of equitable access to justice for environmental defenders.
More information
Contact
María Victoria Gerbaldo, victoriagerbaldo@fundeps.org
The acquittal of “Belén”
As was the news in the past few months, “Belén”, the Tucuman woman who had been imprisoned for two years accused of the murder of her newborn baby in a hospital, was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Tucumán on March 23 of this year.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
In the first instance, “Belén” had been accused of “homicide aggravated by the bond and treachery.” The Criminal Chamber sentenced her to 8 years in prison considering her state of puerperium as a mitigating factor. That conviction was based on testimony from doctors, nurses and police officers who were in the hospital that day, saying that “Belén” had had a premature birth in the hospital bathroom and had dumped the baby into the toilet.
However, the judicial process suffered from serious breaches of due process guarantees, among which we can mention: it was never found that the body found was indeed a child of “Belén” because no DNA tests were performed; She did not have an adequate legal defense, which remained passive in the recognition of the facts against the defendant’s sayings; Most of the evidence was obtained in a serious violation of professional secrecy, among others.
Since lawyer Soledad Deza, a Catholic law litigation coordinator for the Right to Decide, took her case in 2016, hundreds of social organizations that fight for women’s rights echoed and asked for the young woman’s freedom, Which took place on August 16, 2016, after having spent more than two years in prison.
We celebrate the resolution of the Supreme Court of Tucumán that at the end of March of this year, it dictated the acquittal of “Belén”, while laying the foundations on which human rights guarantees should be supported for every woman attending a medical center To be attended to.
In this sense, in the ruling and the vote of Dr. Daniel Oscar Posse, it is understood that the situation that “Belén” suffered in the hospital was institutional violence,
“Since the rupture of the commitment of professional reservation was added a succession of facts that nothing is consistent with the treatment that should receive a person in clear state of vulnerability, in this case a woman, who went to the Hospital to receive urgent medical care : It was incriminated to be the author of the fact accusing her from the first moment of lying about her alleged ignorance of her state of pregnancy; The body of the dead child was displayed as a kind of moral punishment in a box; She was subjected to medical treatment without being given any explanation about the cause and extent of it; All their rights to confidentiality and privacy were violated, in clear violation of the health team’s obligation to maintain medical secrecy, even allowing the presence of police personnel in the midst of the practice of curettage. That is to say that the incartada was absolutely relegated from its state of patient, dispensing to him from there a direct treatment like rea“.
He also stated that “despite assuming that the accused was in a situation of defenselessness, the Court (appealed) did not act accordingly to ensure that the “Belén” lawyer was deficient in the first instances of the trial, The guarantees of due process and defense at trial, but, on the contrary, used such defenses or defensive defenses to underpin the conviction of the accused “(the bold is ours).
On the other hand, it recognizes that
“All the evidentiary material of charge – apart from illegal as much in its origin and incorporation, as I exposed it when dealing with the question of the violation to the professional medical secret – is confused, ambiguous and contradictory, what nullifies any possibility of that it arrives certainty. There is not a single element of proof of charge that does not present some bankruptcy”.
He then mentions, one after another, the shortcomings of the evidence provided by the Office of the Prosecutor and valued by the Court that unjustly condemned “Belén”. In this regard, we would like once again to congratulate the clarification of the Tucuman Court when it clarifies that “it is useful to state that in the case there is another phase of verification of institutional violence against the accused, now in the judicial sphere, in addition to the one mentioned Previously occurred within the framework of medical care provided to the young woman”
Finally, in the vote indicated, it is determined that
“This institutional violence in the medical and judicial spheres is immediately embedded with the gender issue, because many of the serious shortcomings pointed out would not have been verified in a case with a man as an alleged perpetrator. In order to know if gender stereotypes were present in this process, one only has to ask: had a conviction of aggravated homicide been reached because of the attachment of a man to a cause where the body of the crime was lost and there is no data to allow Know the effective relationship between victim and perpetrator? With an autopsy with incongruities such as the sex of the victim or her gestational age and with a cause of death not clearly and precisely determined? Would it have been supported that the defense did not make any proposal in front of these situations and did not propose proof of defense? Would the defense have been allowed to occur contrary to the position of innocence sustained in the statements and words of the accused at all times?”
We understand as a fundamental pillar for the progress in the guarantee of the human rights of women, the explicit acknowledgments of institutional violence of gender by the legal operators. These kinds of resolutions based on human rights and the recommendations and observations of the committees that supervise them, make visible the seriousness of these facts and contribute to the construction of behaviors deprived of stereotypes that denigrate, violate and violate citizens.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning the vote of Dr. Antonio Gandur, when he points out that
“Considers it pertinent and necessary to carry out a thorough training process through lectures, meetings and workshops by the Human Rights Secretariat of this Court in coordination with the agencies of the Siprosa (Provincial Health System) to inform medical operators Provincial the current legal framework as well as the appropriate way of acting on issues related to the present case.”
We hope that such instances of formation will be carried out with the main objective of guaranteeing the rights of the citizens, preventing and eradicating violence in the life of women, and the full enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive rights.
Contacto
Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org
Mayca Irina Balaguer
The interruption of pregnancy as a health problem: approved the first university chair of the country
The Board of Directors of the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Rosario (UNR) voted, at the beginning of May, to incorporate an optional subject that addresses the practice of termination of pregnancy in cases permitted by law, such as Public health problem. From FUNDEPS, we celebrate the resolution.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
The Faculty of Medicine of the UNR will be the first to have a chair on termination of pregnancy. Unanimously, the Board of Directors approved the incorporation of a matter that addresses the legal interruption of pregnancy (ILE), that is to say, in cases permitted by law, from a public health perspective, with the objective of training and / Future health professionals.
The subject will be optional and will seek, among other questions, to problematize medical students about the legal framework in force in Argentina, the regulation of conscientious objection and the process of care and attention of women at different levels of the situation Of the interruption of pregnancy. It will include counseling on contraceptive methods and teaching the use of available medical technologies to ensure an ILE.
Discontinuation of pregnancy is a public health problem as it represents the leading cause of maternal death. According to the Shadow Report presented by ANDES, CELS and FEIM, among other organizations, in Argentina, between 460,000 and 600,000 clandestine abortions are practiced annually before the Committee against Torture. Over the past 30 years, complications from unsafe abortions have been the leading cause of maternal mortality and account for one-third of all deaths. In this sense, it is urgent that the State guarantee a training in accordance with the law in force, which will enable medical professionals to approach the problem from a human rights perspective.
From FUNDEPS we support the initiative. It is the duty of the State to guarantee the conditions for women to enjoy the full enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive rights, and we consider that the training of our and our health professionals in this field is essential.
Author
Antonela Vanini
Contact
Virginia Pedraza, <vir.pedraza@fundeps.org>
Presentation of a report to the UN Human Rights Council
The report focuses on health protection in the face of the tobacco epidemic and urges the UPR (Universal Periodic Review) Committee to recommend that the Argentine State adopt measures to achieve higher standards of protection.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
ARGENTINA. This year, the second five-year evaluation carried out by the United Nations Human Rights Council will take place in our country. It provides States with the opportunity to state what measures they have taken to improve the human rights situation and to establish obligations in this regard.
One of the reports, presented by FUNDEPS, together with FIC Argentina, O ‘Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and FEIM, analyzes the smoking in the world, the marketing of the industry and the legal situation in the country.
Tobacco advertising has a strong influence on smokers and non-smokers: a third of initial experimentation in young people occurs as a result of advertisements. 78% of 13- to 15-year-olds report regular exposure to cigarette commercials around the world.
The reality is that there is a lack of controls, non-compliance with laws and a refusal to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an instrument that places obligations on States to adopt Control and establishes a series of effective measures against the consequences of direct and indirect consumption. The treaty was ratified by more than 180 participants and Argentina is the only South American country that is not yet a member of this convention.
The state spends 33 billion pesos every year to treat health problems due to smoking. The tax collection from the sale of cigarettes barely covers two-thirds of the direct costs that the cigarette causes in the health system.
The partial restrictions of the ads encourage the manipulation of the same and generates a legal vacuum. Only through regulations that ensure a complete ban on all direct and indirect forms of advertising can lead our country to reach its goals in terms of cigarette consumption. Current laws lack many of the most significant components of the FCTC and hamper the efforts of health institutions to reduce tobacco use in the territory.
From Fundeps we urge that the Argentine State take this opportunity to take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with fundamental rights.
Source
Institute of Clinical and Health Effectiveness
FIC Argentina
Author
Federico Piccioni
Contact
Agustina Mozzoni <agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org>
Towards Argentina’s ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
In the Senate of the Nation took place today, a day of intersectoral dialogue that included the presentation of a bill for the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
BUENOS AIRES. On Thursday, May 18, a day was held to promote the Argentine ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an international public health treaty with members from 180 countries that Argentina has yet to ratify.
The Convention provides for a series of measures aimed at improving the health of the population by seeking the elimination or reduction of the consumption of these products and exposure to second-hand smoke. These measures include banning all forms of advertising, promotion and sponsorship, increasing the price of cigarettes and tobacco taxes, enacting laws that monitor and evaluate policies aimed at preventing consumption, implementation Of 100% smoke-free environments, offering help to quit smoking and the inclusion of health warnings with images on cigarette labels, among other measures.
In Argentina, about 44 thousand people die each year from diseases related to smoking. The average age at which smoking begins is at 12 and until then people are bombarded by aggressive marketing strategies developed by the tobacco industry. One of the most advanced measures of the FCTC is to eliminate all forms of dissemination with the aim of “protecting present and future generations against the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of smoking and exposure to smoke “.
In the event they spoke Juan Manuel Abal Medina, Senator of the Nation; Marta Santore, President of the Inter-American Heart Foundation of Argentina (FIC) Dr. César Di Giano, President of the Argentine Anti-tobacco Union (UATA); Armando Peruga, Former Manager of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative; Patricia Sosa, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Latin American Programs Director, among other leading personalities.
We were present with the certainty that our country must ratify the Convention to guarantee the effective protection of the Right to Health; And also with the certainty that such ratification would constitute a key tool to address the interests of the tobacco industry.
Author
Federico Piccioni
Contact
We support the declaration of Principle 10 and the objectives of sustainable development
The Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries for Sustainable Development in Mexico City met for the first time in April. It presented the progress of the negotiation process of the Regional Agreement by Principle 10.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
FUNDEPS together with several civil society organizations signed a declaration that supports the fundamental alliance between sustainable development objectives and principle 10, as we understand that:
“There will be no sustainable development without the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) nor without the rights of access to information, access to justice and participation on environmental issues, known as access rights.”
Within the framework of the first meeting of the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries for Sustainable Development, it was claimed that there can be no real sustainable development if there is no real access to information and justice, as well as As an authentic participation of the citizens. In this regard, the Vice Minister of Environment of Costa Rica, Patricia Madrigal stressed that “Principle 10 redefines the traditional concept of development for its inclusive, transparent and participatory nature.”
Hence the importance of this Forum, which presents the ideal opportunity for the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, which proposes 17 Sustainable Development Objectives, and the Regional agreement for Principle 10 to be implemented and can be addressed in an integral way to In order to strengthen each other.
FUNDEPS as an organization that promotes the construction of sustainable public policies participates actively in the negotiation process Regional Agreement on Principle 10, as well as publicly supports the Sustainable Development Objectives (ODS) of the United Nations Agenda 2030, recognizing the importance of access rights in the implementation of real sustainable development policies.
More information
Declaration that supports the P10 and the ODS-Signers
First Meeting Forum of the Latin American and Caribbean Countries for Sustainable Development
Author
María Perez Alsina
Contact
Male Martínez Espeche – malemartinez@fundeps.org
The High Court of Justice and its doctrine on femicides
The High Court of Justice of the province of Córdoba (TSJ), established the criteria on how cases of femicide should be treated, confirming Gonzalo Lizarralde’s life sentence for the crime of Paola Acosta, stating that he measured gender violence And it was a femicide.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”
The sentence of the 11th Chamber of the Crime, reviewed by the TSJ, had condemned Lizarralde to life imprisonment for homicide classified as treachery against Paola Acosta and for homicide qualified for the bond and for treachery in an attempt against his Daughter, MA Both the defense and the complaint married this sentence and the TSJ was issued last month confirming the conviction, but with the aggravating of femicide.
The Chamber had dismissed the application of this aggravating factor because it understood that there had been no gender violence, stating that “Acosta and Lizarralde had an informal and short-lived relationship of a few months.” The Chamber also pointed out that the personal characteristics of the victim prevented the application of the femicide figure, since it was a woman who “was not docile” and who “decided to empower herself in defense of her rights and those of her daughter” .
The TSJ ruling is the first of this court that addresses the figure of femicide, which is why they established their interpretive criteria.
In principle, it clarifies that in this case it was a case in which a man assaulted against a woman using gender violence, and considered that Lizarralde committed the homicide against Acosta based on gender bias
Consider, it is not essential that there is a stable, formal or cohabiting relationship. Homicide must occur in a context in which women are in conditions of inequality with respect to men. This context must be evaluated by the judge according to each specific case, but no personal characteristic can be demanded in the victim (that is submissive or of weak character, for example).
It is especially important to note that the TSJ took into account that the femicida understood that she would not resign her personal choices to the responsibility that takes care of a girl’s care, which led him to overcome the burden of pregnancy and the assistance of his Daughter, leaving everything in the hands of the victim for three years. This left Paola in a situation of vulnerability and inequality, which she herself sought to reverse through a family judicial process. The death of Paola meant to impose the plans of life of the femicide over those of the victim and his daughter.
We welcome this judicial pronouncement because we believe it is essential to raise awareness and raise awareness of this extreme form of violence, which is only the last step in violence against women. The aggravating factor of femicide acts when the damage is already done, which makes it necessary to accompany this type of actions with policies aimed at prevention.
In times of intense debate about the State’s punitive response to violence against women, which has proven to be insufficient, we insist on a comprehensive and preventive approach that includes violence in all its forms.
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Author
Mayca Balaguer
Contact
Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org
Co-creating policies: Provincial Government Board Opened in Córdoba
During the past Wednesday, April 12 and 19, the Open Government Office of the Province of Cordoba summoned civil society organizations at a dialogue table. This, in the framework of the elaboration of the provincial goal that will be part of the National Plan of Action of Argentina before OGP during the years 2017 to 2019.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”
Within the framework of the Open Government Alliance (OGP), Argentina will have to submit a new National Action Plan in July 2017, which will contemplate new commitments regarding transparency, accountability and citizen participation.
The Open Government Alliance was launched in 2011 to provide an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments accountable, more open and improving their responsiveness to their citizens. Since then, OGP has moved from 8 participating countries to the 64 countries indicated on the map below. In all these countries, government and civil society work together to develop and implement ambitious reforms around open government.
The concept of “open government” is based on 3 fundamental pillars: transparency, participation and collaboration. It implies a new paradigm, under which decision-makers put citizens at the center of public policy and include them in their design, understanding that greater citizen participation in the formulation of public policies contributes to a more open government and that Accountable to citizens.
The last plan of action presented by our country was in 2015, and included commitments assumed both by the administration of Cristina Fernandez and by the current management of Mauricio Macri. For this 2017, from the Ministry of Modernization of the Nation, it was decided to incorporate a section in the plan that is made up of subnational commitments.
In this regard, the provinces are invited to add a goal to this new plan. During the end of 2016, federal meetings were organized by the federal executive, explaining the methodology for the elaboration of commitments. In this sense and according to the process explained, the goals had to be co-created with civil society.
The relevance of the Open Government as a new cultural paradigm in the sphere of state management lies in the possibility of incorporating the citizenry in the decision-making processes of the government. A more transparent and accountable administration of society translates into stronger and more legitimate institutions.
The past Wednesday, April 12 and 19, from the Secretariat of the Governorate of the Province of Cordoba, civil society organizations were summoned to participate in two dialogue panels. During both meetings we worked on the creation of the commitment that the Province of Cordoba will assume in the National Action Plan of Argentina before OGP 2017-2019.
Among the organizations that participated in these tables are the AGA Association, the Nuestra Córdoba Citizen Network, the Córdoba Environmental Forum, FUNDEPS, the Federal Government Institute, Open Data Córdoba, among others. The debate was essentially about the need to achieve the institutionalization of the paradigm of Open Government within the government of the Province of Cordoba. Also discussed was the possibility of creating an Open Government Portal belonging to the province.
From FUNDEPS we consider this one, as an important step in the progress toward the establishment of Open Government policies in the province. The institutionalization of spaces with these characteristics would achieve, in the future, greater and better mechanisms of citizen participation. Consequently, the levels of accountability and transparency of government management in Córdoba would increase.
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We participated in the Open Government Partnership Summit in Paris
Climate Change and Open Government at the Global TAI Meeting
Participation in the Regional Meeting of Subnational Entities by the Open Government
Contact
Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org