Tobacco Control "Bloopers"


Question of the Month
July 2002


Sometimes one gets the impression at tobacco control conferences that tobacco control advocates never make mistakes. Indeed, there is a general tendency for many of us to bring attention to our successes -- not our failures. This is a pity, for we have as much (if not more) to learn from things we did not do well, as from things we did.

At the 3rd European Conference on Tobacco or Health in Poland last month, one of the most popular -- and perhaps most useful -- plenary sessions featured a panel of leading tobacco control advocates from around the world. The focus: what mistakes have they made in the past and what lessons have they learned from them?

For example, Luminita Sanda of the Ministry of Health and Family - Romania, acknowledged that too often in the past her ministry has disregarded the important role of NGOs in tobacco control, an error that fostered deep distrust between the two parties. In the future, the ministry intends to be much more supportive of NGO initiatives. Recently the Ministry surprised Philip Morris (and heartened local NGOs) by refusing to be an official partner of its Romanian "youth smoking prevention" program.

We should not be too hesitant to let others know about things we think, in retrospect, we could have done better. These examples are important complements to the glowing reports of our successes. Sharing them can only enhance our collective tobacco control efforts.

Question: What mistakes have you and/or your organization made in the past and what lessons have you learned from them?

We're looking for all types of responses e.g. faulty strategies, errors in judgement, misguided policies, bad timing, inaccurate presumptions, etc! Please provide relevant details and context.