PRESS RELEASE

December 16, 2004

American University of Armenia Corporation
300 Lakeside Drive, 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 987-9452
Fax: (510) 208-3576

Contact: Gohar Momjian
E-mail: gohar@auac.net

AUA Promotes Anti-Smoking Movement

Yerevan – On Friday, December 10, 2004, the Association of Caricaturists,
the Armenian Public Health Alliance, the Coalition for Tobacco Free Armenia
and the American University of Armenia hosted a public exhibition “Artists
Against Smoking,” as part of its approach to combat smoking in Armenia.
The exhibition took place in the newly opened AUA Center Restaurant, which
has a healthy working, non-smoking environment policy.

With support from the Open Society institute, the Armenian Public Health
Alliance, formed by the Armenian Public Health Association, the Armenian
Public Health Union and the American University of Armenia, started an
ambitious multi-pronged project to combat smoking in Armenia, including
establishing the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Armenia (CTFA), which now
includes 18 NGOs representing over eight hundred people committed to
preventing the health consequences of tobacco smoke.

Earlier in the year, on October 12, the American University of Armenia (AUA)
hosted the first ever-national meeting of non-governmental organizations
involved in fighting smoking in Armenia. At the conference, AUA President
Haroutune Armenian emphasized that the Coalition for Tobacco Free Armenia
(CTFA) demonstrates that Armenians can and will unite to protect the public’
s health.

According to global tobacco expert, Dr. Richard Peto, the average Armenian
male smoker loses 17 years of productive life due to smoking. Despite this
shocking finding, smoking is not perceived as a problem by Armenian society,
where 67% of adult males are estimated to smoke and 3% of females.
Moreover, many wrongly believe that cigarette manufacturing is a benefit to
the country’s economy, looking only at the jobs and tax revenue created by
the industry, without accounting for health and other costs paid by the
government and by society at large. This false image of tobacco industry is
maintained by sophisticated advertisements and other misleading practices
seen throughout the world.

Empowering people and building public support for tough tobacco control
policy measures was and remains the focus of the initiative. Established in
June 2004, the Coalition for Tobacco Free Armenia became a member of the
international Framework Convention Alliance, which unites about 200
organizations around the world in support of the WHO Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control. In June, CTFA Coordinator Narine Movsisyan, MD, MPH
participated as an invited observer at the open-ended intergovernmental
meeting on tobacco control in Geneva. In her words, it was “a great
experience to learn from international tobacco control activists. Lobbying
was a bad word in the soviet times. I would never have imagined that
lobbying could be pro-human, pro-health. Like the smokers we are trying to
educate, we have to open our minds and re-think many concepts.”

In a country in transition like Armenia, economic arguments can be very
powerful. Thus, demonstrating the long-term effects of tobacco control as
opposed to short-term economic benefits of tobacco growing and manufacturing
is of critical importance. Armenian Public Health Alliance experts developed
a comprehensive informational package for Armenian policy and decision
makers. The infopack called “Contemporary Issues on Tobacco Control in
Armenia” examined health, social and economic aspects of the situation in
Armenia and suggested appropriate solutions in light of international
experience. The Armenian Public Health Alliance’s infopack was a critical
reference at the November 17 Parliamentary hearings on tobacco control.

The CTFA successfully lobbied Parliament to adopt the Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control and is now lobbying for similarly strict supporting
legislation, in coordination with the Ministry of Health National Tobacco
Control Program led by Dr. Alexander Bazarchyan and Chair of Parliamentary
Committee on Science, Education, Culture, and Youth, Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan.
As Armenian Public Health Alliance member Hovhannes Margaryants, President
of the Armenian Public Health Union, noted, “We intend to stimulate a
dialogue within our society and build a new non-smoking culture. We are
looking for allies and partners among journalists, medical, cultural,
business and political elite as well as parents and other “ordinary”
citizens. Everyone concerned with building a healthier and safer homeland
for all Armenians is welcomed.”

The “Artists Against Smoking” exhibition was organized within the framework
of the tobacco control project with support from the Open Society Institute
Assistance Foundation. The Association of Caricaturists presented
approximately 40 antismoking drawings. AUA members along with guests and
representatives from Ministry of Culture, Youth Affaires and Sport, Academy
of Art, international organizations and local agencies expressed their
appreciation and noted that both the exhibition and non-smoking Restaurant
are a novelty for Armenia.

CTFA Coordinator Narine Movsisyan stated, “It’s a challenge to change people
‘s unhealthy behavior. Today’s exhibition is an attempt to talk to people on
a language of humor and satire. We believe that laugh can be curative.” The
opening was followed by light reception and broad local media coverage. The
Exhibition will be open for public at large through December 17th in the AUA
Club Restaurant.

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The American University of Armenia is registered as a non-profit educational
organization in both Armenia and the United States and is affiliated with
the Regents of the University of California. Receiving major support from
the AGBU, AUA offers instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight
graduate programs. For more information about AUA, visit

Photos: Works displayed from the Artists Against Smoking exhibition in the
AUA Center Club Restaurant, hosted by the Association of Caricaturists, the
Armenian Public Health Alliance, the Coalition for Tobacco Free Armenia