UN health agency urges even stronger measures to curb tobacco use

With tobacco killing 4.9 million people each year, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has called for extra measures going beyond those required by the new tobacco control treaty unanimously adopted by the 192-member agency in May, including increased taxes.

Urging member states to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) as quickly as possible to prevent further loss of lives from tobacco-related diseases, WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook told the 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, currently underway in Helsinki, Finland, that the convention’s obligations were not the optimum.

Minimum FCTC obligations include prominent health warnings on tobacco packages that should take up half the package, comprehensive advertising, sponsorship and promotion bans in accordance with countries’ constitutions, and steps to protect people from tobacco smoke indoors in public places including the workplace.

“One of the best ways to stop youth from starting to smoke is to raise prices, and an increased tax on tobacco products will not only reduce consumption, but also raise government revenue,” Dr. Lee said on the first day of the six-day conference, which opened yesterday. “A tobacco tax levy of one per cent can also be used by countries to finance national tobacco control measures.

“The FCTC negotiations have unleashed a process resulting in tangible differences at country level. To drive this momentum, WHO calls on all tobacco control advocates to strengthen the efforts made thus far,” he added.

Since its adoption, one country, Norway, has already ratified the FCTC and 28 countries and the European Community (EC) signed it in June on the opening day for signatures. Forty countries must ratify it before it can enter into force and be a legally binding document.

Most of the tobacco deaths occur in poorer countries where use is increasing, largely due to aggressive marketing by the industry. By 2020, the total number of tobacco users worldwide is expected to reach 1.7 billion – up from the current 1.3 billion. Increases will be particularly evident among women, mainly in the developing world.

“Tobacco is not only a health issue, it is also a development issue,” Dr. Lee said. “It particularly disadvantages the poor, and can even contribute to malnutrition when money is spent on tobacco rather than food. The links between poverty and tobacco need to be addressed as part of the broader health development agenda.”

At the conference today, the Alliance for Global Cancer Control issued its first public statement, calling for the rapid implementation of the FCTC. Signed by 30 organizations, including WHO and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), the statement emphasized that eliminating tobacco use could prevent an estimated 30 per cent of all cancer cases and 90 per cent of all lung cancer cases.