Tobacco industry deliberately targets young people in Taiwan

Foreign tobacco companies have deliberately targeted young people in Taiwan, new research concludes. In the first five years after the market was opened to Western companies, the prevalence of smoking in young adults aged 18 to 24 increased from 36% to 42%, a study in Tobacco Control has found (2005;14:38-44).

“Foreign tobacco companies increased their advertising expenditure, skirted the law via brand stretching, and engaged in aggressive promotional activities at point of sale retail outlets,” say the researchers from the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan.

“Nearly half of …