WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2011 CELEBRATES

WHO’s FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL

WHO urges full treaty enforcement and compliance

31 May 2011 | Cairo - On World No Tobacco Day (31 May), the World Health Organization celebrates the successes of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in the fight against the epidemic of tobacco use. At the same time, WHO recognizes that challenges remain for the public health treaty to reach its full potential as the world's most powerful tobacco control tool.

Since it was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2003, 172 countries have become Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Among other measures, the Parties are obliged over time to:

• protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke

• ban tobacco advertising and sales to minors

• put large health warnings on packages of tobacco

• ban or limit additives to tobacco products

• increase tobacco taxes

• create a national coordinating mechanism for tobacco control.

This year, the tobacco epidemic will kill nearly 6 million people, including some 600 000 nonsmokers who will die from exposure to tobacco smoke. By 2030, it could kill 8 million.

"Full implementation and enforcement of, and compliance with, the Convention is vital to decreasing the considerable health and economic burden caused by tobacco," says Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. "Despite the promising progress that the Region has witnessed since the beginning of the development of the Convention, a more comprehensive approach still needs to be adopted if rapid and sustained reduction in tobacco consumption is to be achieved."

Tobacco use is one of the biggest contributors to the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases – such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema – which accounts for 63% of all deaths, nearly 80% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. Up to half of all tobacco users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.

Many of the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region have made tremendous strides in implementing the treaty. For example:

• Djibouti, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan and Pakistan require health warnings that cover between 30% and 50% of the surface of tobacco packages;

• Egypt, Gaza Strip, Pakistan, Tunisia, Sudan and West Bank raised taxes on tobacco products, equalling more than 50% of the retail price;

• The Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan and Syrian Arab Republic banned smoking in closed public places;

• Djibouti, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and United Arab Emirates banned all types of tobacco advertising.

The Convention is a means for Parties and non-Parties alike to curb the tobacco epidemic. Although the majority of countries in the Region are now Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, non-Parties can still use the Convention as their guide in designing and implementing legislation at national level to protect themselves and their peoples.  

"The tool for a tobacco-free world is at our fingertips," says Dr Gezairy. "Tobacco control cannot and will not advance to the next level unless all partners work together towards this common goal."

Where technical and funding gaps exist, Parties must gather the necessary resources, with the essential help of the international community. WHO offers technical assistance and policy guidance to its Member States to help them meet their commitments under the treaty.

"The Framework Convention has proved to be more than just an ordinary convention. It has fulfilled its promise, creating a whole new public health era for tobacco control," says Dr Gezairy. "Its provisions have been trialled, tested and proved effective in many countries, globally and regionally. With the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, we stand the biggest chance of achieving what could be the single largest positive impact on health in this century."

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