What's up with the fake anti-caesarean message boards. Ciprian Ciucu: “We decided to intervene”

The billboards with anti-caesarean section messages that appeared in Bucharest will be “neutralized on Monday”, announced the capital's mayor, Ciprian Ciucu, in a post on Facebook. He said two advertising firms have agreed to remove them from the billboards they own.

UPDATE 17.50: The Mayor of the Capital, Ciprian Ciucu, announced that “two large outdoor advertising companies have agreed to take down the anti-Caesarian message from all the billboards they own in Bucharest”.

He stated that he made the decision to intervene “by appealing to the good faith of these companies (there is no legal framework for ex-ante validation of messages).”

“So that all the panels of the two big display companies will be neutralized on Monday, as they informed us”, writes Ciprian Ciucu on his Facebook page.

“I support freedom of expression! At the same time, it is important for the health of our society to offer messages that are supported by science and the medical world”, writes Ciucu.

***

The head of the National Authority for Consumer Protection, Csaba Lajos Bekesi, told the Snoop website that representatives of the Corporate Transparency Foundation were invited “to clarify certain situations, specific to the law”, including whether the messages on the boards are real or “less true”.

“The medical part is the prerogative of other specialized institutions, but the part of advertising and informing potential consumers belongs to ANPC”, said the head of the institution, in the dialogue with Snoop. He added that local authorities, such as the local police, also have powers in this area.

According to him, the institution checks whether the messages are supported by “certain, clear data” and whether they do not mislead the public.

Although the ANPC recommended the suspension of the campaign until the situation is clarified, the president of the foundation refused and asked for an adjournment until next week to present the documents underlying the claims on the boards.

If the messages are found to be misleading, the sanctions can range from fines – set according to the economic profile of those involved – to stopping the campaign.

What the initiators of the campaign say

Snoop contacted the founders of the Corporate Transparency Foundation, Radu Cătălin Grădinaru and Florin Ghencea, but they refused to provide many details and stated that they would send a press release to the editors.

Their response was sent to the ActiveNews website, also picked up by TVRinfo. The announcement does not appear on the foundation's website or on their Facebook page.

The organization's representatives state, in this statement to Active News, that “the message of the campaign was never intended to stigmatize women who give birth by cesarean section” and emphasize that the cesarean section “represents an essential medical procedure in many clinical situations.”

At the same time, the foundation says that the messages on the billboards wanted to draw attention to the “increasing number of cesarean sections performed in the absence of clear medical indications.”

The foundation promises that this campaign is only the first step in a larger effort, which will continue with public debates and televised appearances, in which doctors, specialists and representatives of civil society will participate.

• In just a minute, you can fill out Form 230 to redirect up to 3.5% of your income tax to Snoop. Instead of going to the state budget, that amount will support the work done by journalists and Snoop editorial staff.