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WHO denounces tobacco industryThursday, September 24, 2009
WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-soo, stresses that "governments must recognize that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interest. To strengthen the fight against smoking, WHO's governing body in the Region has endorsed the Regional Action Plan (2010–2014) for the Tobacco Free Initiative. The Plan aims to strengthen government tobacco control programmes as well as protect public policy processes from interference from the tobacco industry. Member States are urged to take concrete actions and measures they can take to achieve an overall regional goal of zero tobacco use prevalence. One third of the world's smokers reside in the Western Pacific Region, which has the greatest number of smokers, among the highest rates of male smoking prevalence, and the fastest increase of tobacco use uptake by women and young people compared to the other five WHO regions. Tobacco remains the leading preventable cause of death globally, with more than 5 million people dying worldwide from the effects of tobacco every year. Tobacco-related deaths outnumber fatalities from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. It is estimated that two people die every minute from a tobacco-related illness, such as cancer, heart disease, strokes and respiratory illness. Fiji Broadcasting Corporation |
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