EAST HANOVER, N.J .AND WINSTON-SALEM, N.C, MAY 18, 2006 -- Two contingents of nurse activists, including nurses from California, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Kentucky, attended annual shareholder meetings of tobacco companies Altria/Philip Morris and Reynolds American, held April 27 and May 3, 2006, calling on the companies to end active promotion of cigarettes. The nurses, members of the Nightingales (http://www.nightingalesnurses.org), a national nursing group focused on highlighting the role of the tobacco industry in contributing to the epidemic of tobacco-caused disease, disability and premature death, attended the meetings to confront the companies about the impact of ongoing tobacco promotion on the lives of thousands of American families for whom nurses care.
At the Altria/Philip Morris meeting, where the nurses spoke in support of several shareholder-initiated resolutions aimed at supporting tobacco control measures, CEO Louis Camilleri suggested that the activists were “stuck in the past” and should focus on the future, said Nightingales organizer and APHA ATOD Section Councilor Ruth Malone, RN, associate professor of nursing at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing.
“But there are 440,000 people every year in this country alone who can’t focus on the future -- because they die prematurely from tobacco," Malone said. "Many of these people became addicted because of actions the company took in the past to hide the truth about its products. We are there to represent their voices and those of their families.”
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| APHA member Gina Intinarelli, RN, (shaking hands) at Nightingales Nurses' demonstration at Reynolds American annual shareholders' meeting, where nurses spoke against promotion of flavored cigarettes. With Intinarelli, from left: RNs Ellen Hahn, Carol Southard, Julia Buss, Jill Jarvie, Sharon Brown. |
At the Reynolds American meeting in Winston-Salem, N.C., which nurses attended this year for the first time, Nightingales supported a resolution aimed at addressing the new candy flavored cigarettes, with flavors like Midnight Berry, which are attractive to youth and other new smokers. Sandy Toner, an RN from Springfield, Missouri, noted that during the past school year, she had taught tobacco use prevention classes to nearly 1,500 students in 58 settings.
“In every single class, “ she said, “the students were familiar with the flavored cigarettes, stated that they would be more likely to try a flavored cigarette than a regular cigarette, agreed that kids think flavored cigarettes are less dangerous than regular ones, and liked the special packaging, calling it ‘cool’ and ‘elite.’”
The resolution, asking the company to document the flavored cigarettes’ effects on youth, was defeated by shareholders, but the nurses vowed to return next year.
“It’s important for nurses to be here because these companies claim to be ‘responsible’,” said Lisa Greathouse, a nurse from Lexington, Kentucky. “It’s important for someone to be here to say that continuing to actively promote products that are this harmful is completely irresponsible.”
For more information, contact Ruth Malone at: ruth.malone@ucsf.edu
Ruth Malone, RN, PhD
ATOD Section Councilor