HSPH has long been active in pressing for control of tobacco and smoking. In 1981, HSPH Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos first described the health effects of secondhand smoke, linking it to increased lung cancer risk in people who had never smoked themselves. In 1999, Associate Dean Jay Winsten, Director of the Center for Health Communication at HSPH, and Susan Moses, Deputy Director, went to Hollywood to advocate for avoidance of smoking in youth-rated movies. Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in the U.S.
HSPH Dean Barry R. Bloom issued a statement on the day of the MPAA announcement. He said, "Harvard School of Public Health has worked closely with the MPAA on this issue for over a year and has urged the industry to do more to use its power to reduce the levels of smoking in film. The important steps announced by the MPAA and Rating Board today are hopefully just the first ones the film companies will take toward the public health goal of eliminating the depiction of tobacco smoking from youth-accessible films altogether."
In a scientific briefing requested by Glickman on February 23, HSPH brought together experts to present evidence on the health impact of youth smoking and the influence of films that depict tobacco use on youth behavior. Dean Bloom invited Winsten and Dr. Jonathan Samet from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to join in the presentation to the MPAA.
Copyright, 2007, President and Fellows of Harvard College
