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ACS GLOBALink: Online For a Smokefree Planet
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by Nancy Stefanik
On Friday, November 23rd, 1990, U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills announced that the United States was dropping its 18-month-old trade case against Thailand over that country's tobacco-related health laws. This outcome contrasts sharply with earlier trade cases brought by the U.S. against Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea in which those countries made significant concessions on a wide range of issues to avoid U.S. trade retaliation. This recent development may very well signal a turning point in the United States' pro-tobacco trade policy. (ACS GLOBALink Information Alert, December 4, 1990)
What happened? How could Thailand withstand pressure that even an economic powerhouse like Japan couldn't resist just a few years ago? What's changed?
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In January 1990, tobacco control advocates representing all regions of the world convened under the auspices of the American Cancer Society to explore new means of strengthening resistance to the incursions of the transnational tobacco companies (TTCs). They knew that unless current trends are arrested, by the year 2050, 12 million people worldwide will die each year of tobacco-related diseases - more than five times the current death toll. And that the overwhelming majority of these deaths would occur not in Western Europe or North America or Australia, but in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and eastern European countries. At the January "summit", advocates from Thailand and other developing countries warned about the aggressive efforts of the TTCs and implored assistance from the international tobacco control community. The group agreed that a new level of global communication and strategic coordination was essential to effectively counter these efforts. And so, ACS GLOBALink was born.
ACS GLOBALink is a computer-based communications system developed by the Advocacy Institute for the American Cancer Society. It was officially launched at the 7th World Conference on Tobacco and Health held in Perth, Australia in April 1990, and now has about 50 members including representatives from the World Health Organization (Geneva and Copenhagen); the Pan American Health Organization; the International Organization of Consumer Unions (Malyasia); the International Union against Cancer (Geneva); national cancer or heart societies in the U.S., Canada, Indonesia, and Belfast; governmental public health departments in Australia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, the U.S., Japan, Tanzania, and the UK; the British Medical Association; the American Public Health Association; grassroots organizations in Norway, Japan, Taiwan, Egypt, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Argentina, and Australia.
The network features:
* a twice-weekly news service on tobacco-related developments worldwide. More than a dozen news correspondents around the world provide news for monthly regional spotlights.
* Strategy Exchanges. Advocates use GLOBALink's computer conferencing facilities to develop strategies for resisting the TTCs, share experiences and report on tobacco-related developments, and ask for the assistance of other advocates when needed.
* Global Action Alerts. GLOBALink staff work with advocates involved in intense tobacco control campaigns which could use the mobilization of the international health community to develop action alerts succinctly providing sufficient background, relevant facts and quotes, and suggested actions.
* a searchable database of news summaries, quotes and facts. This useful database can be searched by subject, date, or keyword.
* other advocacy resources. These include case studies of successful and unsuccessful campaigns, guides to increasing tobacco excise taxes and promoting advertising bans, fact files on the tobacco companies, and a directory of international advocates.
* access to SCARCNet, the sister network linking tobacco control advocates around the U.S.
ACS GLOBALink is more than a computer network however. From the onset, it was recognized that not all interested advocates would be able to access it directly due to lack of financial resources or electronic communications capability. GLOBALink staff has thus been working in partnership with the international health and consumer organizations to disseminate strategic information and news to their membership through more traditional means including their newsletters. Action Alerts, excerpts from GLOBALink's Strategy Exchanges and News Bulletins have also been faxed, mailed, and telexed when necessary. The American Cancer Society is actively seeking sponsors to set up regional GLOBALink clearinghouses and subsidize the usage of advocates without the financial means to participate directly. UNICEF has recently agreed to sponsor GLOBALink's youth-oriented efforts.
Within six months, the GLOBALink communications system has demonstrated its value. "Ambassador Hills' announcement came after an intense 18-month campaign waged by tobacco lobbyists and health advocates around the world. Thai officials say pressure from the health community was crucial in forcing the U.S. to drop its case without achieving its objectives. The campaign included several rounds of hearings and the submission of hundreds of written comments by international and domestic groups to the U.S. Congress and the "Section 301 Committee" which advises the President in cases such as this." (ACS GLOBALink Information Alert, December 4, 1990) "The U.S. Trade Representative requested public comment on the question of whether trade sanctions should be imposed on Thailand, but provided a deadline which made it difficult for groups outside the U.S. to participate. Through GLOBALink, the international community was mobilized and informed of developments on a regular basis. As a result, more than a dozen distinguished international organizations wrote to let the USTR know that trade sanctions against Thailand would provoke harsh international condemnation." (December letter to 250 advocates from GLOBALink staff)
The next GLOBALink mobilization is already underway. Activists in New Zealand alerted GLOBALink staff to an announcement by the newly elected National party government that they will be introducing legislation early next year to repeal the ban on all forms of tobacco sponsorship that was passed and enacted by the former Labor government this fall. New Zealand's ban includes some of the world's most stringent restrictions on tobacco sponsorship of sports and cultural activities. A GLOBALink Action Alert was developed providing background information, proposed actions, and draft letters to New Zealand government officials.
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The tobacco industry has seemingly unlimited resources at its disposal. Hopefully, GLOBALINK will help save many of the lives the tobacco industry is prepared to kill in the interest of business expansion.