WHO Raises Pitch to Control Tobacco Which Kills 6 Million People Every Year

Doha, May 28 (QNA) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is spurring countries to implement its guidelines to comprehensively ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship such that fewer people start and continue to use tobacco. This is part of WHO's 2013 campaign for the 'World Tobacco Day' to be observed worldwide May 31. The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2013 is: ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 600,000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke or passive smokers. Unless urgent measures are not taken by the global community, the epidemic will kill more than eight million people every year by 2030. More than 80% of these preventable deaths, adding up to one billion people globally, will be among people living in low- and middle-income countries, the WHO estimates. Approximately one person dies every six seconds due to tobacco and this accounts for one in 10 adult deaths. Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease. Tobacco users who die prematurely deprive their families of income, raise the cost of health care and hinder economic development, the WHO says. Tobacco caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century. If current trends continue, it may cause about one billion deaths in the 21st century. Every human has the right to breathe freely, clean air free from tobacco smoke. Each country has its own legislation to protect the health of non-smokers and anti-smoking laws are unpopular among users and the tobacco industry. Overall only 11% of people are protected by national smoke-free laws. The number of people protected from second-hand smoke more than doubled to 739 million in 2010 from 354 million in 2008. A statistic of concern is only 22 cities are free tobacco smoke from the world's 100 most populous cities. In 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 250 known to be harmful and around 50 cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds. Second-hand smoke among adults causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases including lung cancer. Studies show that not many people are aware of the specific health risks arising from tobacco use. Most smokers who are aware of the dangers of tobacco want to quit smoking. But it is difficult for them to quit on their own since they are dependent on nicotine. However, they can increase their chances with counselling and medications. The ultimate goal of World No Tobacco Day is to contribute to protect present and future generations not only from these devastating health consequences, but also against the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. The objectives of the 2013 campaign are to spur countries to implement Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Article 13 and its Guidelines to comprehensively ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship such that fewer people start and continue to use tobacco; and drive local, national and international efforts to counteract tobacco industry efforts to undermine tobacco control, specifically industry efforts to stall or stop comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Legislation is key to effective tobacco control. It institutionalizes and makes binding a country's commitment for tobacco control, creates focus for tobacco control activity and regulates private and public conduct in ways that voluntary measures cannot. The WHO FCTC now has more than 170 Parties, representing more than 85% of the world's population, As with any other treaty, the WHO FCTC confers legal obligations on its Parties - that is, on the countries (and the European Union) that have formally become Parties to it. With this impetus, many countries are in the process of developing and strengthening their tobacco control legislation and ensuring effective mechanisms for enforcement. (QNA)