|
By Stephanie Hilborn
 31 May was the annual World Health Organization’s (WHO) World No Tobacco Day. This year’s emphasis was on smoke-free public places.
A group of more than twenty alumni from American Councils’ FLEX program, and students of art schools and other university, together with the Georgian NGO, Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) mobilized residents of Tbilisi and promoted public awareness for the rights of non-smokers. Current legislation in Georgia prohibits smoking in universities, schools, hospitals and health institutions, public transport, cafes not serving hard alcohol, as well as all public places such as the airport, government buildings, cinemas and theatres. An individual can be fined $3 for each cigarette and the administration $120.
A 2004 graduate and Flex Alumni Coordinator Lana Chkhartishvili, enthusiastically recruited via the vast alumni email network for a series of informational meetings and trainings held throughout May in preparation for the event. Over twenty-five students brainstormed ideas for World No Tobacco Day and future actions to continue afterwards. Tamta, an alumni who interned with an American youth-led tobacco control organization in New Jersey called REBEL, spoke with the younger FLEX alumni on youth movements in the U.S and how to apply them to the Georgian experience. On the same day Tamila Vacharadze ’01 Flex Coordinator led discussions on pantomimes and street theatre for public outreach on sensitive themes.
 The night before the event, FLEX students and other Armenian and Trinidadian youth developed messages and designs for painting on t-shirts and posters, working into the wee hours of the morning. Many phrases that sounded motivational in English were too long in Georgian. (Lana, what were the phrases?) In the end, key messages informed about the 11,000 Georgians who die each year from tobacco-induced cardiovascular problems such as strokes and heart attacks, as well as various cancers and tobacco’s effect on unborn children and non-smokers in general. I worked with several students for media training on speaking with members of the press with each emphasizing a different aspect of our core message, that second-hand smoke is toxic and implementation of the current smoke-free legislation in Georgia is crucial for public health.
 Inspired by an American youth movement called the Truth Campaign, funded by the Legacy Foundation, FLEX watched several commercials developed by youth for youth on the manipulative nature of the tobacco industry. One commercial stressed the chemical additives in cigarettes such as cyanide, sodium hydroxide, radioactive Polonium 210, arsenic and ammonium, another examined outrageous statements by a 1997 Tobacco Industry scientist comparing the addictiveness of tobacco to jogging and eating the candy M&M’s. We organized actions based on a third commercial, which showed chalk outlines on the city streets of New York with the main message that cigarettes kill thirty times more than murder. A long-term plan is to adapt and create similar style public awareness commercials for airing on Georgian television.
 In the early morning, five FLEX alumni Lana Chkhartishvili ‘04, Mikheil Benidze ’06, Irakli Tavartkiladze ’06 Sopo Natroshvili ’06 and two art students, alumni Tina and her friend Liana Labadze , drew chalk outlines in front of the busy Freedom Square metro and in front of School number 1, centrally located next to the Parliament on Rustaveli St. representing the 30 people who die each day in Georgia. Messages about the death toll from tobacco in Georgia were also communicated via posters and chalk writings. From the beginning, a large amount of people were interested. Five school children from the school and six boys from a nearby high school were actively involved in drawing the affects of tobacco on one’s lungs as well as creative gravestones.
 Lana and Eka acted as spokeswomen and helped interpret for me to recruit more youth to get involved and converse with doctors waiting for the bus who were very interested in our action, as many doctors and patients smoke in hospitals, which is strictly prohibited. (Tina’s friend) was approached by a soldier who was smoking and was stunned by the number of people who are killed daily in Georgia by cigarettes. Many people could not understand why the government is not doing very much to warn or prevent these deaths. Our future actions will incorporate them to have a wider base of doctors, medical students and youth working to protect non-smokers’ rights to breathe clean air. Eka Rostamashvili ‘06 actively involved passer-bys about the meaning of the drawings and the need for implementation of the law by the police with some officers from the parliament next door. After some discussion, the policeman mentioned it was not his job to record violations as no one smokes at the Parliament, a disputed fact that many observers have seen to be untrue. When pressed, he asks, “If they did smoke, what would I do, they are politicians?” Highlighting the greater need for efforts on long-term projects in public awareness and further training of police officers and their supervisors. The Framework Convention Alliance has trained officers and journalists, yet funding is needed to encourage more interaction in this regard.
Later in the day, accompanied by TV crews Imedi, Mze and the 1st channel and four police officers to preserve the peace, the youth placed no smoking stickers in marshutkas, buses and in other places of violations such as the Rustaveli cinema. FLEX youth (Lana can you put names based on the photos?) were interviewed on television and for print media on their involvement for World No Tobacco Day. A lawyer and head of the NGO, Framework Convention Alliance, Giorgi Bakhturidze, and spoke with the cinema security guards abut the various violations such as ashtrays provided in the lobby, large Gauloises advertisements suggesting that cigarettes provide freedom. He additionally reminded them that their practice of showing tobacco advertisement on the screen before a film begins, as well as for children’s cartoons is shameful and illegal. There is also the same tobacco brand printed on the back of ticket stubs for children’s films. Meanwhile, FLEX placed no smoking pamphlets on the tables and informed café customers about current legislation and how tobacco is impacting Georgian society. The students were well prepared from the trainings and performed like naturals enthusiastically encouraging all to get involved.
Chanting, “we’re too cool to smoke” and carrying posters promoting healthy lifestyles and clear air, the peaceful participants marched in colorful t-shirts decorated by art students to Café Nikala and Café Rustaveli, both of which should not allow smoking on the lower levels, as they do not serve hard alcohol. When asked how she feels about smoking in public places, FLEX Alumni Coordinator, Lana Chkhartishvili, says, “How am I supposed to feel? Cigarettes are toxic with arsenic, ammonia, formaldehyde, radioactive compound Polonium 210 and many other chemicals. Georgia needs to preserve smoke-free public places.”
The students also observed violations at the prestigious maternity hospital Chachava on Kostava where a famous ultrasound doctor working with pregnant women has been reported by fellow coworkers and patients for smoking repeatedly in his office. In Georgian, Tako Kheladze ‘06 and I questioned him on what effects smoking has on women who are expecting babies. He alluded that it disturbed the moods of the women. Only when confronted with the facts did he admit that he smokes in his office and that it causes spontaneous abortion and serious birth defects. He did agree to put up non-smoking stickers in his office.
Overall, the event was a large success, with the students mobilizing like professionals in the short amount of time we had to prepare with very little budget.
For more information on the Truth Campaign, see www.whudafxup.com on the Framework Convention Alliance, www.fctc.org.ge
Stephanie Hilborn is the Advocacy and Fundraising Director of the Framework Convention Alliance and has previously worked on tobacco control in Latin America, Africa and the United States since 2002. She can be reached at shilborn@gmail.com for more information on beginning youth-focused tobacco control movements, as well as for details on the situation in Georgia.
|
