This report aims to contextualize the problem of smoking and analyze its multiple impacts on health, the environment, the economy and society, from a comprehensive, relational and intersectional perspective. Based on an exhaustive review of the literature and scientific evidence from sources without conflicts of interest, this work focuses on the specific effects of tobacco consumption and the activities of the tobacco industry in Argentina and the region.
Tag Archive for: Health
The recent decisions of the national government put the health of the population at risk. Argentina’s possible withdrawal from the WHO weakens its ability to access funding and technical cooperation based on scientific evidence. This announcement is part of a context of cuts, flexibility and deregulation of health policies that benefit large corporations at the expense of public health.
“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”.
1 – Argentina is moving away from international health standards
- If Argentina withdraws from the WHO, its access to technical cooperation, financing and evidence-based recommendations on health matters could be weakened.
- The WHO, among other things, is the main body for coordinating and promoting regulations for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as malnutrition, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, COPD, and certain types of cancer, which are directly associated with the consumption of ultra-processed products and tobacco and nicotine.
- Argentina’s withdrawal from the WHO therefore weakens its access to technical cooperation, financing and evidence-based recommendations on health matters.
- It also affects our country’s ability to be part of global strategies to combat the tobacco epidemic. The WHO is the governing body of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global public health treaty that promotes comprehensive policies based on the best scientific evidence.
2 – Relaxing front labelling benefits industry, not the population
- The Law on the Promotion of Healthy Eating is a major step forward in protecting the right to information and healthy eating. However, provisions 11362 and 11378 recently passed by ANMAT reduced the standards for applying warning labels on packaging of ultra-processed foods, allowing products with high levels of sugar, sodium and saturated fats to avoid the black labels.
- These changes are not based on scientific evidence, but rather respond to pressure from the food industry, which implies a regression of acquired rights: it generates confusion in the population and affects the ability to make informed decisions about how we want to eat, negatively impacting health.
- As the State reduces its capacity to protect the health of the population, large corporations gain more freedom to sell less healthy products, with fewer controls and without proper information. More freedom for companies, less freedom for citizens.
3 – Less public health
These decisions by the national government deepen the crisis in the health system, which is affected, among other things, by:
- Budget cuts across the public health system affecting hospitals, health programs, and the purchase of medicines and basic supplies for health centers, leading to shortages and reduced services.
- The closure of programs and mass layoffs have left key initiatives for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, mental health, and free distribution of medicines without funding.
- The reduction in health personnel and the weakening of the Ministry of Health have overloaded the system, affecting care and access to treatment, which worsens the health crisis and particularly harms health personnel and those who depend on the public system for medical care.
4 – Who benefits from these measures?
- The relaxation of front-of-package labelling and the withdrawal of the WHO do not respond to a logic of efficiency, but to a deregulation strategy that favours the most powerful economic actors.
- The weakening of public health policies that seek to prevent diseases harms people’s quality of life and overloads the health system.
- While access to health care is being affected by the population, the food and tobacco industries are gaining strength, achieving more lax regulations that allow the marketing of products without clear warnings.
- With these decisions, Argentina not only weakens its internal regulations, but also moves away from the global health goals established in the UN Agenda 2030 regarding the promotion of healthy eating, zero hunger and the fight against the tobacco epidemic.
Conclusion: Less State, more privileges for the big monopolies, fewer rights for the population.
The right to health and information are at risk. Argentina’s announced withdrawal from the WHO, the relaxation of front-of-package labelling, and cuts in supplies and health personnel are different aspects of the same strategy to weaken public health policies.
At Fundeps, we urge that these decisions be reversed and regulations be put in place to protect the health of the entire population.
The multidimensional crisis and growing food insecurity that the country is experiencing has led several provinces to issue local Food Emergency regulations. In this report we explore the scope and limits of this regulatory strategy in the search to alleviate the difficulties faced by millions of Argentines, as well as its connection with the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating.
Despite having the National Tobacco Control Law, Argentina faces challenges in addressing the tobacco epidemic in a solid and comprehensive manner. Although the Law is a valuable tool, it is not enough today to deal with the new strategies of the tobacco industry. In this context, the provinces have the opportunity to promote initiatives to complement it, improving health protection standards and tobacco control policies at the local level.
“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”.
Thirteen years have passed since the National Tobacco Control Law was passed, and although it has been an important starting point, in our country 22% of the adult population and 20% of adolescents still smoke, causing almost 43 thousand deaths a year. In addition, the tobacco epidemic costs the health system more than $1.5 billion pesos annually to treat related diseases, and what the State earns from tobacco taxes is not enough to cover even a fifth of this amount.
The National Law establishes the prohibition of smoking in closed spaces, establishes the obligation of health warnings on cigarette packages and determines certain restrictions on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products.
However, it is insufficient mainly because:
- does not expressly include emerging products within its scope, such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products;
- provides limited protection for smoke-free environments and
- establishes exceptions to the prohibitions on advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
This implies gaps and grey areas in important areas, which enable the tobacco industry to continue deploying all its marketing strategies, with the aim of normalizing addiction and attracting more consumers, especially children and young people. The most commonly used strategies have to do with advertising and displaying products at points of sale, promotion at mass events and on social networks, and the launching of new products.
It should be noted that, despite not being included as emerging products in the National Law, electronic cigarettes were incorporated into its regulations with Decree 602/2013, after having been totally prohibited by provision 3226/2011 of the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT). Later, Resolution 565/2023 also prohibited the import, distribution, marketing, advertising or any form of promotion of heated tobacco products. However, this has not managed to prevent the marketing and increasing consumption of these products, especially among adolescents and young people.
In this context, it is urgent to update, strengthen and expand the existing tobacco control regulations. The National Law must be reformed to achieve greater scope and completely prohibit the industry’s new marketing strategies. However, it is not only the National State that has the responsibility of protecting the health of the population. Provincial States also have a crucial role in the design of public policies that protect health, and can implement effective and comprehensive measures to combat smoking.
In different parts of the country, there are several initiatives promoted by the provinces to complement the National Tobacco Control Law, even advancing in what this law left out and in the grey areas that the tobacco industries have taken advantage of.
These advances occur mainly in three crucial areas:
- Incorporating emerging products into laws
- Total ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including display at points of sale.
- Expanding protection for smoke-free environments.
The inclusion of emerging products in subnational tobacco control regulations is a strategic step to, on the one hand, consider and strengthen in the provinces the protection standards that arise from the national legal framework, in particular provision 3226/11 and Resolution 565/2023. And, on the other, to ensure that the battery of measures provided for traditional cigarettes is also applied to emerging products, especially marketing restrictions and protection of smoke-free environments.
The total ban on advertising that includes the display of products at points of sale is a fundamental measure, since the National Tobacco Control Law expressly authorizes tobacco companies to carry out promotional and advertising actions in these places. Due to their high attendance, they are strategic for exposing people to images and messages that position the habit of smoking as something familiar and attractive. Taking advantage of these legal exceptions, industries have redirected their multi-million dollar investments in marketing – which increase year after year – towards these spaces.
Finally, extending the protection of smoke-free environments means reducing exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke as much as possible, since it is also a risk factor in the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. In this context, extending this protection to all closed public spaces, including work, cultural and sports spaces, transport stations, public and private health and educational institutions, is essential. Also, extending protection to play and recreation areas for children, aerobic stations and other areas for practicing sports in public squares, parks and promenades, becomes key to protecting the health of the population, specifically children, adolescents and young people.
The provinces in action
Over the past 12 years, there has been progress in the approval of subnational regulations that are worth highlighting. La Pampa, Tierra del Fuego and Córdoba managed to approve more comprehensive tobacco control regulations, while provinces such as Entre Ríos and Mendoza, while improving their protection standards, did so only in relation to a specific area of regulation.
La Pampa
La Pampa was a pioneer in expanding the provisions of the National Tobacco Control Law on the prohibition of advertising. Thus, in 2012, it passed Law No. 2,701, which prohibits:
- All types of direct and indirect promotion and advertising of tobacco products, regardless of the means of dissemination.
- To the industry, sponsor events and participate in them with advertising clothing.
- Consuming tobacco products in any enclosed space, whether public or private, and also in any area of health care and educational establishments.
In turn, in 2021, Law No. 3392 included within its scope all electronic devices with or without nicotine administration, and those developed in the future. In this way, the definition of “tobacco consumption” also covers these emerging products. In addition, the display of all products at points of sale was prohibited.
Tierra del Fuego
In 2017, Tierra del Fuego amended its Provincial Tobacco Control Law through Law 1,203. This law completely prohibits advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, including the display of products in places of sale. The law also specifically covers electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, applying the entire regulatory framework for traditional cigarettes to them.
Córdoba
In 2019, Córdoba approved Law 10,661, which expands Law No. 9113 of the Permanent Provincial Program for the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Use. This regulation contemplates:
- A complete ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, including display at points of sale.
- Restrictions on electronic cigarettes and similar devices are now being brought into line. Their use in closed spaces and sale to minors under 18 years of age are also prohibited.
Entre Ríos
This province took legislative measures to combat smoking by adhering to the National Law in 2021 and thus repealing Provincial Law 9,862 on Tobacco Control. In this way, the protection of smoke-free environments was improved, while 9,862 contemplated exceptions and allowed smoking in gambling halls.
In turn, this regulation expanded its scope to include not only products made wholly or partially from tobacco, but also electronic devices with or without nicotine administration.
Mendoza
In May 2024, Mendoza incorporated Article 1 bis to Law No. 8382 on adherence to the National Tobacco Control Law, which establishes a ban on smoking in the rooms, balconies and terraces of casinos, expanding the scope of smoke-free environments.
We need better laws and more oversight
In recent years, many provinces have introduced bills to restrict tobacco advertising, expand smoke-free environments, and regulate emerging products. These efforts reflect a continuing commitment to improving the health and quality of life of citizens.
In this context, civil society values the laws passed, as well as the various projects presented, and encourages that these advances at the subnational level be taken from a comprehensive perspective. In this sense, we consider it essential that a single legal instrument can advance with improvements in at least the three aspects mentioned, to achieve a synergy between all the proposed measures, which facilitates their implementation and, above all, contributes to a more effective approach to the tobacco epidemic.
We also understand that issuing regulations is not the only solution if we want to achieve an effective approach to this problem in the country. Adequate oversight and sanctions for non-compliance with the laws are essential for tobacco control policies to have a real impact.
The industry constantly exceeds the prohibitive rules on display at points of sale. It also violates the advertising ban by using shelves and illuminated signs visible from outside the premises, which easily attract people’s attention.
Smoke-free environments, on the other hand, are not always respected, especially in bars and dance clubs. Also, emerging products are often used in these closed spaces, demonstrating the lack of awareness about their dangers. Given this situation, we need to ensure the proper implementation of existing regulations, improving the mechanisms of oversight by the State and facilitating the avenues for citizen complaints.
As can be seen from the examples mentioned, the fight against smoking is not only about complying with the national legal framework, but there are options to go further by taking proactive and comprehensive measures. In this way, we encourage the involvement of all social and political actors so that more and more provinces commit to improving their tobacco control policies, to protect the health and quality of life of their entire population.
Provinces have the power, but also the responsibility, to promote and implement better strategies to combat smoking.
Check out the infographic on what provinces can do to stop the spread of smoking here.
More Information
- It is urgent to protect children and youth from the interference of the tobacco industry!
- An industry that does not give in
Author
Clara Díaz Yofre
Contact
Maga Merlo Vijarra, magamerlov@fundeps.org
From Fundeps we conducted a study interviewing youth, adolescents and children from different socioeconomic levels, to comprehensively understand the consumption of tobacco products and generate evidence regarding the profile of consumers and the context surrounding their consumption.
In this report you can find reasons, beliefs, experiences, expectations, emotions and motivations, related to tobacco consumption; and considerations about the people who consume it, taking into account factors such as gender, age, socioeconomic level and school and extracurricular activities.
On World No Tobacco Day, we again call for the development and implementation of public health policies to be free of interference from tobacco companies. It is urgent that the Argentine State prioritize the well-being and health of its population, and especially those who are the focus of the marketing strategies of this industry, that is, children and youth.
“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”.
Tobacco and nicotine products are lethal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 8 million people die each year due to the consumption of these products and 1.3 million people die from just being exposed to second-hand smoke. For its part, Argentina’s epidemiological context is not far behind. According to the latest World Youth Tobacco Survey (2018), our country has one of the highest prevalence rates of tobacco addiction in the region: 20.2% of adolescents smoke. As if that were not enough, the age of initiation into consumption is already between 12 and 15 years.
Although it is well known that tobacco kills up to half of those who consume it, States are permeable (and sometimes even complicit) to the wide range of interference strategies deployed by tobacco companies. In general terms, these strategies seek to hinder the processes of advancing more protective norms of the right to health, undermine existing regulatory frameworks, take advantage of certain legal loopholes, as well as the ineffectiveness of State control mechanisms and, Finally, -the greatest purpose- to increase their profits and generate the necessary conditions to guarantee the sustainability of their businesses.
In Argentina, the interference of the tobacco industry is present, mainly, through the permanent and sustained lobbying of authorities of the National State and the provinces, the sabotage of legislative processes, the misrepresentation of scientific evidence along with the construction of confusing narratives that They seek to position their products as having reduced risk and the generation of economic threats in the face of the development of policies that seek to regulate their activity.
Without going any further, the push and pull that is taking place within the framework of the debate over the Bases bill in the National Congress which, among other things, implies a reform in the tax structure on tobacco products, are a clear example of the way in which this interference materializes. Both the exchanges between legislators and the media coverage have focused on the economic damages that one or another tobacco company would suffer if the reform were to advance, without taking center stage the negative impact that public health would suffer with a tax modification of these characteristics. -which enables the presence of very cheap cigarettes on the market, hindering the reduction of consumption- and, least of all, the great scandal that represents the fact that public power intervenes (or rather, plays a decisive role) in decision-making. any tobacco industry.
Although this has been the case of interference that, in recent days, has acquired greater notoriety, it is also possible to find other cases that reveal that progress towards better regulatory frameworks is, historically, a process fraught with obstacles. In this sense, the numerous draft regulations stand out that, after the sanction of the National Tobacco Control Law in 2011, were presented in the National Congress with the purpose of strengthening the response of the Argentine State to marketing tactics. of the tobacco industry. Despite the different presentations by various political parties and the important efforts of civil society to promote them, none of them achieved legislative treatment, losing their parliamentary status.
Along these lines, the large number of failed attempts to get the Argentine State to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) deserves special mention. A survey of the databases of the Chamber of Deputies and Senators of the Nation showed that, between 2003 and 2022, 33 bills were submitted – 15 in the Senate and 18 in the Deputies –, postulating accession to the Framework Agreement and without None of them managed to reach the plenary session. This instrument and its ratification by the National State are necessary and urgent as it would allow for a comprehensive framework for the implementation of policies aimed at reducing supply, demand and health, social and environmental damage caused by products. tobacco and nicotine. In addition, it would provide effective tools to protect public health policies against the commercial interests of tobacco companies, as well as individuals or other organizations that work to promote the interests of this industry. Even though the positive and strategic implications of being part of the Framework Convention are more than evident, our country is the only one in South America and one of the few in the world that is not yet part of it.
That said, it is worth asking: what are the consequences of allowing the deployment and interference of these practices within the States and, particularly, the Argentine State? Who is really harmed?
Although our country has a regulatory framework that in preventive matters has adopted certain restrictions on marketing, the protection of smoke-free environments and the prohibition of emerging products (such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products), the truth is is that these regulations have become outdated in the face of an industry that is constantly renewing itself and that spends millions of dollars on amplifying and diversifying its marketing strategies. Added to this is the almost non-existence of oversight mechanisms by the State, which prevents the identification of violations of existing regulations, the application of sanctions to offenders and, ultimately, a serious weakening of the progress that – after many efforts – the Argentine population managed to achieve tobacco control policies.
This situation is especially critical for the protection of children and youth, who, because they are in a stage of training and development, are highly vulnerable to the manipulative practices of the tobacco industry. This deepens if regulatory frameworks and state responses are insufficient to combat them.
Industry strategies are diverse. The launch of innovative and sophisticated products, the construction of narratives that position them as the “alternative” to quit smoking, the organization or presence at massive events or parties, and the use of social networks together with the hiring of influencers for their promotion have a single purpose: to naturalize – especially among young people – the consumption of tobacco and nicotine products, create a new generation of consumers and maintain a captive audience among those who already suffer from this addiction.
There is no doubt that tobacco industry interference undermines efforts to reduce the tobacco epidemic in our country. For this reason, we reiterate that the ratification of the FCTC by the Argentine State would represent a fundamental step to reverse this situation, as well as a firm commitment to the health and quality of life of its youngest population.
Protecting public health policies from the stalking of corporate interests in this industry is the most challenging aspect of tobacco control and, at the same time, the most urgent and necessary. The Argentine population needs the commitment of all social actors and political forces so that their rights are prioritized. It is no longer possible to continue waiting.
Authors
Clara Diaz Yofre Maga
Merlo Vijarra
Contact
Maga Merlo, magamerlov@fundeps.org
This Friday, May 24, the meeting “Córdoba has impact: Conversation for disputed rights” took place with the participation of more than 100 people at the Museum of Anthropologies. It was organized by Fundeps, with the participation of more than 30 spaces.
“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”.
For three hours, reflections were developed around:
- how the reduction in public spending affects university education, the scientific-technological system, the popular sectors and the media;
- the consequences of the pension and labor reform proposal, focusing on private home workers; and the unconstitutionality of DNU 70/23.
- the regulatory regressions in relation to the exploitation of natural resources, how communities experience these deregulations and the environmental impact of the Large Investment Regime (RIGI).
The discussion brought together representatives from various fields, including academia, social organizations, communities, media and unions.
An event with diverse voices and perspectives that help us understand some of the challenges we face and how to build collective strategies against the regression of rights.
Food and beverage industry interference is defined as influencing legal frameworks and policy environments in order to delay, weaken or prevent the development of healthy eating policies. These companies and groups related to their interests carry out different actions to intervene in the development of public policies and to influence the academic world and science.
This report seeks to document the case of interference by the food industry in Argentina, within the framework of the debate and sanction of the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (No. 27,642), better known as the Labeling Law, as well as the initiatives developed by civil society to counteract this interference.
This report, carried out with the financial support of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), compiles the views of five civil society organizations that actively and jointly participated in the promotion of the law, and currently continue working towards its correct implementation: the Inter-American Heart Foundation Argentina (FIC Argentina), Consciente Colectivo, the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (FUNDEPS), the Foundation
SANAR and the Argentine Federation of Nutrition Graduates (FAGRAN). These organizations, free of conflict of interest, began working together in 2021 and provided scientific evidence to justify the choice of labeling. In addition, they carried out advocacy actions with different political decision-makers during all the years in which the policy was debated, and carried out communication campaigns to inform and support the approval of the law.
In situations of multidimensional crisis, such as the one our country is going through, those who suffer the most are the lower-income sectors and, in particular, girls, boys and adolescents. The withdrawal of the State and economic deregulation imply greater lack of protection. Guaranteeing the basic right to adequate food, in this context, becomes urgent. So we ask ourselves again: what can and what should we demand from the State in terms of food? Does it make sense to question what kind of food we want in our pots? Or do we have to settle for “what there is”?
“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, inflation continues to rise. The index of the Social Debt Observatory of the UCA (Argentine Catholic University) showed that the population that does not cover its basic food needs went from 9.4% at the end of the third quarter of 2023, to 15% in January , and that poverty affects 57% of the people in this country. In turn, Indec reported that the Basic Food Basket (BCA) increased 18.6% in January and 296.4% in the last twelve months, above inflation (254.2%). While, according to the Neighborhood Price Index (IBP) of the Social, Economic and Citizen Policy Research Institute (ISEPCi), food prices increased by up to 69.7% since last December. These figures reflect a noticeable increase in indigence and poverty.
To this information, we add that which already alerted us: the quality of life of the Argentine population has been progressively deteriorating. 73.4% of deaths are due to Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, these are responsible for 52% of the years of life lost due to premature death and 76% of the years of life adjusted for disability. Proper nutrition is one of the main risk factors.
Despite the statistics and the context, the national government, a few days before the start of the year 2024, decided to completely interrupt the supply of food to soup kitchens. Numerous organizations daily denounce that “the pots are empty”, “the food emergency is urgent and necessary” and “there is no freedom when there is nothing on the table”, as well as the double burden they must bear: at times when they least have to offer, is when more people come looking for a plate of food.
This framework encourages us to reflect on the minimum conditions that we must guarantee, such as life and human dignity, for it to make sense to talk about rights such as freedom. Also talk again about the role that the State must play to guarantee these rights. The notion that a present State is necessarily abusive collides with what reality exposes: rights lack satisfaction in the absence of a State that ensures their protection through effective policies.
Food is one of the most basic human needs and is closely linked to people’s life and health. Given its essential and indispensable nature, it was recognized as a fundamental human right in various international human rights treaties that today enjoy constitutional hierarchy in our country. This normative consecration gives rise to imperative and enforceable legal obligations on the head of the State to: respect, protect and guarantee the effective fulfillment of this right.
Food policies in Argentina
In our country, food problems, unfortunately, are not new. When doing a retrospective analysis, it is possible to observe in different historical periods great crises and political tensions regarding the role of the State as guarantor of this right.
Prior to the constitutional reform of 1994, the development of the right to food was largely subordinated to labor law and the living wage, since a privatized reading of food rights and obligations prevailed. However, in the 1980s a different political-social approach began to take hold. Given the context of need that was experienced after the years of military dictatorship, people began to talk about a food emergency, a paradigm based on welfare policies that has prevailed to this day.
Its regulatory consolidation occurred in 2002 when, in response to one of the most acute crises that our country has suffered, the National Food Emergency recognized by Decree No. 108 (01/15/2002) was declared, which has been extended without interruptions until current situation, and which was arranged in order to meet the basic food needs of the population in conditions of vulnerability and with subsistence risks.
Shortly thereafter, Law 25,724 on the Declaration of National Food Emergency was passed, which instituted the National Nutrition and Food Program, known as the National Food Security Plan “The Most Urgent Hunger” (PNSA), intended to cover the minimum nutritional requirements of groups in situations of extreme vulnerability. This law constitutes to this day the main food policy of our country.
From the food emergency to adequate nutrition
More than 20 years after its entry into force, there is plenty of evidence and bibliography to account for the important limitations and deficiencies presented by this paradigm, which limits the treatment of the food issue to a basic level of satisfaction of minimum caloric needs. And, therefore, its inability to generate structural transformations that allow progress towards a state of food security and sovereignty. Also the serious impact on health that can imply that the food programs that have been established, both at the national and provincial levels, do not have good nutritional criteria and standards. This has to do with the fact that emergency strategies tend to ignore the multiple facets that the food problem encompasses in its complexity, including the so-called “triple burden” of malnutrition: hunger and malnutrition, generalized deficiency of micronutrients and malnutrition due to excess. This needs to be addressed as a health problem linked to the consumption of ultra-processed food products with excess critical nutrients.
This lack came to be questioned by Law 27,642 on the Promotion of Healthy Eating, sanctioned in 2021.
The extensive legislative process that was promoted to achieve the enactment of this law generated a fundamental movement in the public debate on food in our country. This law has been established as a bridge between policies that address historical food problems, such as hunger and malnutrition; and those that seek to reverse modern food problems, linked to excess malnutrition and chronic diseases that are caused by the poor quality of the food products consumed today. The latter affects the entire population since it is linked to the transformation of dietary patterns, although surveys indicate that the highest prevalence is found in lower-income economic sectors. For its part, the problem of hunger is directly linked to poverty.
The Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating, although it does not directly address the problem of lack of food, does establish measures that are fundamental for the transformation of food systems that, directly or indirectly, contribute to greater food security and sovereignty. and generate an improvement in the quality of food assistance. For example, it requires the State that public purchases of food that are destined for soup kitchens where children and adolescents attend, to state agencies and food programs, be made up of healthy foods that do not present warning seals (that is, that they do not have excess sugar, sodium, fat, sweetener or caffeine). It also establishes the importance of encouraging the development of family, peasant and indigenous agriculture.
In this way, the law is positioned, on the one hand, as a valuable instrument to positively impact the health of the most vulnerable sectors of the population, who are those most exposed to the consumption of processed and ultra-processed products. And on the other, to begin to transform the way in which the Argentine State, historically, has constructed its food policies and, more specifically, in its most urgent aspect, that is, hunger. Finally, when thinking about what those who have the least eat, the need to incorporate nutritional criteria and not just the amount of calories was put on the table.
In this framework, key questions were asked about what we are eating; about how the food that reaches our table is produced; about the relationship that exists between what we consume and the diseases we contract, at an increasingly younger age. Questions about what is offered to children and adolescents in schools, which in many cases constitutes the basis of their diet. The question is also enabled about who the State’s suppliers are and what type of production we want to support.
This debate and the conquest of this law, which has had civil society as its protagonist, has meant immense progress in the discussions and food policies of our country, and above all, it provides technical and legal tools to achieve better protection of rights to adequate food and health of the entire population. Society in general echoed the idea that it is no longer about filling bellies but rather about nourishing healthy bodies and minds, nourishing ourselves culturally and emotionally again. And according to the human rights instruments adopted by our country, it is the State that must guarantee that this is the case.
Demand the minimums without giving up the maximums
Currently, these historic advances are at serious risk, just as access to food by a large part of the population is also at risk due to the economic crisis that the country is going through and, above all, due to the shortage policies that they have been suffering. community kitchens and food assistance programs.
The subjugation of social rights seeks to reverse the progress achieved in recent years regarding the debate on food quality because, in the absence of minimum food conditions, immediate needs prevail and the need for structural transformations remain in the background flat.
Now: Is it possible that even in crisis contexts we can think about the food problem in a comprehensive and non-linear way? Is it possible to demand that emergency food policies be urgently implemented and at the same time prioritize the purchase of healthy food for soup kitchens? Of course. It is not only possible but necessary. Fighting for the minimum without giving up the maximum is the way to defend the progress achieved, the rights achieved.
The health effects of purely palliative food policies are irreversible for millions of people who have contracted chronic diseases and disabilities of different types. Today we know the serious consequences on health that come with the consumption of certain products with excess critical nutrients, as well as the lack of variety in the daily diet, the low consumption of fruits and vegetables. For this reason, we cannot settle for “what there is”, we cannot renounce the rights achieved and the progress made in the debate on the type of food we need to develop and live with dignity.
Satisfaction of the right to health, to adequate food, to a decent life cannot be left in the hands of the market, and food cannot be treated as a commodity. It is urgent that the State guarantee that all people can access decent, quality food in sufficient quantity. Quality food should be a right and not a privilege.
*Image source: Colectivo Diciembre
Authors
Maga Merlo Vijarra
María Laura Fons
Contact
Maga Merlo Vijarra, magamerlov@fundeps.org
We are proud to share the 2023 Yearbook, a review of our work, achievements and lessons learned over the past year.
During 2023 we carried out a variety of actions. From advocacy meetings and court filings, to research, conferences and workshops, communications campaigns and more. Each action reflects our determination to transform society and defend human rights.
In addition, at the end of last year, we experienced a major change in our leadership. Carolina Tamagnini, who has led Fundeps for the past 4 years, stepped down as Executive Director to join the Board of Directors and in her place, Mayca Balaguer took over as the new Director.
This change marks not only a transition in leadership, but also a moment of institutional strengthening and renewal, consolidating a dynamic team capable of responding to emerging demands, growing both institutionally and in impact.
What began as an initiative in 2009, today has become a solid organization involved in the defense of human rights, and in 2024. We celebrate 15 years!
Because we are confident that the best way to carry out our work is in a network and collectively, we thank the organizations, communities and individuals who were part of these initiatives. We celebrate with you our progress and invite you to get to know the Yearbook 2023: the collective memory of our commitment to a more just, equitable, sustainable and democratic society.
This report summarizes the main contents and challenges addressed in the first congress dedicated to the implementation of the Healthy Eating Promotion Law. Through thematic tables and debates, strategies were explored to improve the application of these regulations throughout the country. Includes testimonies and practical tools to strengthen the right to healthy eating in Argentina.
LET’S NOT STAY OUT.
Argentina is the only Mercosur country that has not ratified the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, despite having one of the highest addiction prevalence rates in the region. This infographic explains what tools this treaty would provide us in the fight against smoking and why its ratification is urgent.