ISAA: Bond van Formaat: Obistat: Dutch Obesety Org.

Hearing: National Control Comm. For commercials. (Reclame Code Commissie or R.C.C.

Case: Complaint filed by the joined S.A / patients organisations in the Netherlands against Roche- Nederland concerning a educational information campaign in a number of major dutch newspapers. The campaign was called: Het gevaar van te zwaar. (The danger of being to heavy)

Spokesman in this hearing for the joined organisations: Marja Visser, boardmember Bond van Formaat and representative ISAA – the Netherlands.

Address:

Mr. Chairman, honourable members of the Committee, In our Western society people of large size are socially stigmatised. Being fat is associated in our society with being lazy, ignorant, slow overeating, junk-food consuming, without will-power and with being unattractive. These are prejudices and biases from which we, the fat people, are suffering enormously. It is insulting and degrading and unjust. It places you in isolation. It is rare to find a fat person who has not tried, in desperation, 100's of diets. These efforts made by our big folks have been going on for decades but nothing has "helped" so far. On the contrary, statistics show us that all of us just get fatter and according to some obesity researchers this is due to the constantly repeated diet attempts and the yo-yoing effect, (losing weight, putting it on again and so on).

The pressure on the obese person to lose weight is increased and has become rude and cruel at times. Today's fashion/beauty ideal plays a part in this as well. In this anti fat climate it seems to be very lucrative to any 'inventor' of anti-fat devices or so called medicines to invest in large campaigns to the public. The feelings of fear for health problems, the embarrassment of the heavy and very heavy people are so strong and the fear of fat by standard weighing people is so intense that almost everybody is wanting to lose weight in order to get rid of the social stigma or preventing it affecting their lives. Most fat people are therefore prepared to do anything to become thinner and to be accepted by their fellow men, doctors, teachers, partners, no matter the costs, the side effects or the complications.

The so called information/education campaign of the Roche firm is playing on all these fears and feelings of shame by publishing a picture of a man with a big belly, on which is a large red traffic sign (triangle with a ! in it) for danger. Above his head is stated : The danger of being to heavy! Also in big red letters.

In our view this can be seen by others as an warning against fat people, as if our fat were contagious …

That this is a fact we may conclude from numerous phonecalls from our worried and indignant members, after the appearance of these adverts in the papers. We don't wish to be ridiculed this way by the Roche firm. Neither do we want to be used by this firm as a warning for others, or accused by Roche of being a heavy burden on the country's public health budget, which portrays us look as irresponsible citizens. In short: we refuse to be abused by Roche for the increase of their sales of a slimming device called Xenical and produced by this firm.

This infamous so called health campaign is just an cover up for an ordinary commercial. The Roche firm is well aware of the fact that in this country, like in the other European countries of the European Common Market, it is forbidden by law to start or maintain any commercial campaign for a prescription drug such as Xenical. Xenical is a chemical fatblocker with a number of unpleasant side effects, and, according to the researchers, with a very moderate effect and not covered by any of the Dutch health insurance companies.

Mr. Chairman, committee members,

In a letter d.d. 3rd Dec. 1999, of the KOAG = Keuringsraad Openlijke Aanprijzing Geneesmiddellen ( in English: National Board for the control on public sales strategy of medicines and drugs) to Roche- Nederland, the board is repremanding the company for it's advertising in order to increase the sales of Xenical and warned Roche to behave according to the rules, which are very well known by this company.

Also the Dutch Health Inspection, dep. control advertising, has handed over this case to the State Attorney to file a law suit on this matter against Roche, after they received our complaint, amongst several other complaints, from worried organisations like Health Action International for instance.

Resuming:

Our complaint against Roche Nederland involves mainly the rude and stigmatising design of this so called campaign I am representing four organisations who are for this issue standing as one, combined in a effort to ring the alarm bell on behalf of our members and other fat people, men, women and children. We don't want to be abused any longer by the Roche firm to increase their profits by the selling of their products. We do not accept the firm's explanation as if this campaign is a general health/ educational announcement. We reject Roche's accusation that fat people are guilty of increasing health costs, poor behaviour and being irresponsible and a-social individuals.

We do hope that the R.C.C. will state our filed complaint against Roche – Nederland in this matter as well founded and affect steps to stop the insulting publications by this company, to forbid them to do so in the future and to take all other legal action against Roche Nederland for as far within your competence.

Thank you for your appreciated attention.