3
national product of all except the twenty largest economies in the world.
2
Not
surprisingly, tobacco companies have thrown all their resources into the battle to continue
selling cigarettes, in spite of inconvertible evidence of their harm.
In all these debates, Germany stands out for its obstructionism. In the negotiations
of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
(FCTC), Germany is blocking a planned treaty to ban tobacco advertising and has
prevented the EU from supporting the WHO objective to reduce smoking prevalence
worldwide.
3
In the EU, Germany has consistently torpedoed the Commission’s efforts to
protect smokers and non-smokers alike. At home, Germany is a laggard with respect to
legislative measures to reduce smoking.
How to account for Germany’s dismal record? Why would Germany devote
political capital to undermining an EU public health program? Why would a country
with a fantastic health care system be indifferent to one of the leading causes of
premature death? Why would Germany be unconcerned about passive smoking -- given
its strong environmental awareness and its apprehension concerning environmental
threats to health (water pollution, GMO foods, etc.)?
Considering its record in related fields such as health care and environmental
policy, Germany’s position on smoking defies easy explanation. In our paper, we will
advance both a general and a more specific account for why Germany is so opposed to
tobacco control. Our general explanation is that public health in Germany is weak when
related to individual lifestyle choices (alcohol and drugs as well as tobacco). For reasons
related to a little known legacy of the Third Reich, public health as a research field is
relatively underdeveloped and the medical community has shown only modest interest in
Convention