The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

“In this one bowl, there is rice from a thousand households.” The sayings of the Zen poet Ryokan (1758-1831) are applicable to the development of the Asian Speakers' Teaching Kit in 2003. It was modelled on the kit created by the American College of Chest Physicians and the Chest Foundation; additional input and ideas came from the kit adapted for India entitled ‘Evils of Tobacco'; and translation into Asian language was undertaken by colleagues in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The kit was needed as, although the prevalence rates of female smoking are currently low throughout most of the developing world (and only between 2-10% in Asia), this should not lead to complacency: women now have greater spending power; the social and cultural constraints that previously prevented many women from smoking are weakening in some places; the tobacco companies are targeting women with well-funded marketing campaigns linking smoking with emancipation and glamour; women-specific health education and quitting programmes are rare; and governments in some Asian countries focus on the higher levels of male smoking. In South Asia, chewing tobacco remains a major problem.

The kits include visual presentations designed for maximum flexibility, and also suggestions for conducting successful programmes such as: identifying the needs of various audiences; preparing, publicizing, delivering presentations and programmes; following up after a presentation; resources, etc.

The CD of the Kit is distributed free of charge and is also available online at http://speakerskit.chestnet.org/