Religion
International Workshop on Buddhism and Tobacco Control, 7-9 May 2002
An International Workshop on Buddhism and Tobacco Control, held from 7-9 May 2002 at The Buddhist Institute of Cambodia, brought together 22 Buddhist monks and government Buddhist representatives from Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Health professionals, tobacco control activists and observers were also invited and welcomed to the workshop. The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Cults and Religion, Cambodia and ADRA Cambodia.
The main objective of the workshop was to meet and discuss among local and international Buddhist monks and government representatives about how Buddhist teachings relate to tobacco and tobacco use, and the role that Buddhist monks can have in reducing tobacco use.
After two days of active discussion, the workshop participants agree and declare that:
1. There are many Buddhist teachings that relate to how Buddhist monks and others should behave. These include precepts about goodand bad behavior, addiction, intoxication and harm to self and others.
2. Tobacco should be classified under the fifth precept, "Suramerayamajjahpamatthana", as a harmful and addictive substance.
3. Offering tobacco to monks should be considered to be in the third category of wrong offerings "majjadana". Buddhist Monks: a. Have a religious right to refuse offeringsof harmful substances such as tobacco. b.Need to educate Buddhists not to offer tobacco to monks.
4. Cigarette advertising is misleading, as it glamorizes and promotes tobacco use without informing the public about the extent of its harmful and addictive nature. This is offensive and violates the fourth precept of Buddhism, "Musavadaveramoni" about misleading communication. All tobacco marketing should be banned.
5. Tobacco contains addictive and poisonous substances, so tobacco business comes under the five wrong businesses, including "Majjavanijja" and "Visavanijja".
6. Monks, who are of the highest moral standing should be free of nicotine addiction and therefore should not use tobacco. Furthermore, monks should be active in saving lives by preventing tobacco use, establishing smoke-free areas and helping people quit. This is the application of the Buddhist precept "Sangaha dhamma".
7. Tobacco use contributes to poverty through its detrimental impact on population health, the national economy and individual family wealth. Therefore, tobacco use reduction should be a priority in poverty reduction strategies.
8. Efforts by monks to reduce tobacco use will be more effective through participation and commitment from all levels of monks within the individual countries and cooperation at a regional level. This first meeting between three Buddhist countries should be followed by further meetings between more Buddhist countries to discuss the issue of tobacco use reduction.
For more information, please contact Greg Hallen, TFI, WHO Cambodia, halleng@cam.wpro.who.int.
Tobacco and Religion, 3 May 1999
Religion represents a new frontier for public health in terms of partnership opportunities. To explore these opportunities, a Meeting on Tobacco and Religion was held at WHO headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland, on 3 May 1999. Participants included Geneva-based representatives of major religions and staff members of WHO. The meeting was held with the goal of exploring new partnerships and strengthening existing ones to facilitate tobacco control activities.