Prevention experts have renewed calls for a ban on tobacco advertisements and sponsoring to protect young people from the risks of smoking.
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They said the current regulations did not go far enough and the tobacco industry was using legal loopholes to promote smoking.
Claude Jeanrenaud, co-author of a study by a government advisory commission, pointed out that the industry has six times more money at its disposal than prevention campaigners.
He added that Switzerland’s prevention efforts were lagging behind those of other countries.
More than 200 specialists are meeting in Bern for a two-day congress, co-sponsored by the federal and cantonal authorities, the doctor’s association as well as health organisations.
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