How to save a billion lives
From The Economist print edition
A war against the weed (трава (слэнговый эквивалент слова «табак») spreads (развертывается) and escalates (ужесточается), though the odds (шансы) are unequal (неравны).
EVEN more than tempting (соблазнительные) liquors like tequila, tobacco is a pleasure that the Old World wishes it had never taken from the New*. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus was met by tribesmen (tribe – племя) with “fruit, wooden spears (деревянными копьями) and certain dried leaves (высушенными листьями) which gave off a distinct fragrance (ярко выраженный аромат)”, he threw the last gift away. But his shipmates (товарищи по путешествию) brought home the custom of sucking in the smoke (привычку втягивать в себя дым), and the taste (пристрастие) spread (распространилось) so rapidly that in 1604 King James I of England was prompted to issue a denunciation (был вынужден издать документ, осуждающий) of the “manifold (многообразные) abuses (злоупотребления) of this vile (презренной/низменной) custom”.
* Курение – это удовольствие, о заимствовании которого у Америки Старый Свет (Европа) жалеет больше, чем о заимствовании соблазнительных ликеров, таких как текила.
Vile indeed, but habit-forming (вызывающей привыкание) and therefore (вследствие этого) lethally dangerous (смертельно опасной): it cuts short (сокращает) the lives of between a third and half of its practitioners (практикующих ее (привычку)). According to (по утверждению/по мнению) the World Health Organisation (WHO), perhaps 100m people died prematurely (преждевременно/раньше срока) during the 20th century as a result of tobacco. Another 1 billion more may die from it in this century if current trends continue unchecked (не будут сдерживаться).
In recent years smoking has been sharply restricted (резко сокращено) in some unlikely (кажущихся неправдоподобными) places. In 2004 Ireland amazed (изумила/поразила) the world by successfully imposing (введя) a tobacco ban (запрет) on all workplaces; and at the start of this year, France's café culture suddenly went smoke-free (стала «бездымной»). The draconian curbs (драконовские ограничения) introduced by California in 1998 have been followed, at least in part, by well over half America's states. But the number of smokers in China, India and other developing countries is continuing to grow, as addiction (пагубная привычка) spreads faster than information.
Hence the determination (этим обусловлена решительность) of almost everybody involved in global public health (здравоохранение) to escalate the war (в ужесточении войны) on smoking. Over 150 countries have already ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires (требует от стран) countries to take a range (ряда) of anti-smoking measures. Last July negotiators (участники переговоров) agreed on international norms for banning smoking in public places.
On February 7th Margaret Chan, the WHO's (WHO - Всемирная Организация Здравоохранения) director-general, and Michael Bloomberg, New York's zealously anti-smoking (рьяно выступающий против курения) mayor, were due to unveil (должны были обнародовать) the most comprehensive survey (исчерпывающее исследование) of tobacco use ever carried out. The mayor's efforts (усилия) have already reduced (сократили) smoking among the adults in New York by 20% and among teenagers in public schools by 50%.
The WHO says countries must do six things to reduce smoking. The first is to improve the quality of data (повысить качество информации) on tobacco use. The second is to impose (ввести) sweeping (масштабные/широкие) Irish-style smoking bans; only 5% of the global population is now covered by such curbs (ограничениями). The third is to intensify (усилить) efforts to induce (по убеждению/побуждению) and assist smokers to drop the habit (бросить привычку).
Those ideas concern (касаются) the existing users of tobacco; another three are aimed at (направлены на) persuading (убеждение) people not to light up in the first place. It may be hard to believe, but the WHO insists (утверждает) that most smokers still do not understand the full extent (степень/объем) of the health risks. It wants all countries to mandate large, grotesque pictorial warnings (наглядные предупреждения) on cigarette packets. Another policy proven to work (доказавших свою эффективность) is a complete ban (полный запрет) on marketing. The agency is adamant (твердо убеждено) that “partial (частичные) bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship do not work.”
The final prescription (предписание/рекомендация) offered by the WHO is also the most powerful (сильнодействующее) one: higher taxes (налоги). Studies (исследования) show that raising tobacco taxes by a tenth (на 1/10) may cause (вызвать) a 4% drop (сокращение) in consumption (потребления) in rich countries and an 8% drop in poor ones, with tax revenue (доходы казны от налогов) rising despite (не смотря на) lower sales. The agency wants a 70% increase in the retail price (розничной цены) of tobacco, which it says could prevent (предотвратить) up to a quarter of all tobacco-related (связанных с табаком) deaths worldwide. The claim is that higher taxes not only bring in revenue (доход) to fund anti-smoking efforts; they actually benefit (помогают/приносят пользу) the poor.
How come? (каким образом?/это почему же?) Smokers face (сталкиваются с) a familiar choice between short-term pleasure (кратковременным удовольствием) and a long-term desire to quit (многолетним желанием бросить). Tobacco taxes are an incentive (стимул) to make the right choice, and because the poor are price-sensitive (чувствительны к ценам), they benefit the most.
In recent years, as rich countries have clamped down (подавляют) on smoking, tobacco firms have shifted their focus (сместили внимание) to poorer places. A study by Britain's Bath University found that by using aggressive tactics, such as targeting women (выбирая своей мишенью женскую часть населения), international tobacco firms had helped to double (удвоить) smoking rates in Russia since 1991.
The tobacco industry is regrouping in order to focus on “promising” markets and escape (избежать) the pesky lawsuits (досадных судебных тяжб) it is likely to face in rich countries. For example, China is now home to more than a quarter of the world's smokers; it will soon be manufacturing Marlboro cigarettes for Philip Morris, and the firm will be exporting Chinese tobacco to other countries.
At times (порой), the strategy used by public-health campaigners (поборниками здорового образа жизни общества) may seem heavy-handed (жестокими/деспотичными); they retort (утверждают в ответ) that nothing else can work against a rich adversary (врага). Indeed, just as mosquitoes convey (переносят) malaria, Big Tobacco is the “vector (переносчик) spreading this epidemic”. And eradicating (искоренение) tobacco may prove (оказаться) every bit as hard as (таким же сложным, как) fighting insect-borne disease (болезнями, распространяемыми насекомыми).
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