The agency is celebrating this week at 20th Anniversary of the entry into force of its framework convention on tobacco control (WHO FCTC), one of the most widely adopted UN treaties in history.
The Convention provides a legal framework and a comprehensive package of evidence -based tobacco control measures that include large pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages, smoke -free laws and higher taxes on tobacco products.
Up to 5.6 billion people are now covered by at least one tobacco control policy in line with the treaty and studies have demonstrated a decrease in global smoking rates.
‘A plague about humanity’
“Tobacco is a pest on humanity: the main cause of death and preventable diseases worldwide“Said General Director Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus of the WHO.
He pointed out that “since the entry into force of the WHO FCTC and the Mpower Technical Package that supports it, the prevalence of the use of global tobacco has been reduced by a third.”
The Convention is the first public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO. It entered into force on February 27, 2005 and there are currently 183 parts that cover about 90 percent of the world’s population.
An event will take place on Thursday in Geneva to commemorate the anniversary of milestones.
Prohibitions and warnings
Thanks to the Convention, 138 countries now require large pictorial health warnings about cigarette packages. More dozens have implemented simple packaging rules that require a standard shape and appearance without brand, designor a logo.
Both measures serve as powerful tools to reduce tobacco consumption and warn users about the dangers of tobacco use, who said.
In addition, more than a quarter of the world’s population is now covered by policies that prohibit smoking inside and in work spaces, saving millions of the dangers of second -hand smoke.
Meanwhile, more than 66 countries have implemented prohibitions of advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco, which include prohibitions against tobacco advertising in the media and sponsorship agreements.
Confront a ‘mortal’ industry
The treaty has also been fundamental to establish legal defenses against the tobacco industry, which spends tens of billions of dollars in promotion.
“The tobacco industry is a deadly industry behind the tobacco epidemicNow trying to position themselves as part of the solution while actively derailing the efforts in tobacco control that could save millions more lives, “said Dr. Adriana Blanco Marquizo, director of the WHO FCTC Secretariat.
The treaty “equips the holidays with an integral set of measures to protect the populations from constantly evolving tactics of the industry, designed to obtain profits at the expense of the lives of people and the health of our planet,” he added, added, urging countries to “always keep watching their predatory tactics.”
The number of people who smoke around the world in decrease.
The tobacco load
Tobacco consumption is an important driver of non -communicable diseases (NCDS), which causes premature death and disability, who explained.
Tobacco -related diseases lead to catastrophic health expenses, particularly for the poor in the world. Smokers are also more likely not to have access to nutritional foods compared to non -smokers, even in richer countries.
The impacts go further.
Tobacco cultivation uses large areas of land that could otherwise support sustainable food production systems, while their production further exhausts vital resources, such as land and water needed to produce food.
In addition, billions of discarded plastic cigarette butts contaminate ecosystems every year, even more damaging the planet.
Undermining public health
Who said that the tobacco industry “continues to undermine public health efforts, aggressively pointing to young people through marketing, lobbying against tobacco control policies and positioning itself as part of the solution to the problem it created.”
Dr. Blanco Marquizo added that although great advances have been made in tobacco control, it remains more to do as “The tobacco industry continues to kill millions of people per year and their socio -economic charges cause tensions in entire populations. ”
He urged countries to completely implement measures under the WHO FTC, even increasing tobacco taxes, implementing smoke -free laws, applying comprehensive prohibitions of advertising and sponsorship, prohibiting and regulating ingredients that form tobacco products and addressing challenges presented by the new and emerging tobacco tobacco. and nicotine products.
“Through these measures we can save the life of millions more worldwide,” he said.
