Tobacco Is Deadly In Any Form Or Disguise - Who World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2006

Tobacco Is Deadly In Any Form Or Disguise - Who World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2006

May 30, 2006

    MANILA, May 30 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The World Health
Organization (WHO) today accused the tobacco industry of
continuing to use misleading labels such as light, clean,
fresh, cool or mild in order to lure millions of people,
many of them children, to take up the deadly habit of
smoking each year.

    (Logo: 
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040610/CNTH001LOGO )

    The theme of this year's World No Tobacco Day,
"Tobacco: Deadly in any form or disguise", calls
attention to the tobacco industry's lies and to the
existence of a great variety of deadly tobacco products.  

    "The purpose of World No Tobacco Day 2006 is to
remove the deceit and unveil the truth behind tobacco
products," said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director
for the Western Pacific.

    Tobacco products are deadly in any form, whether it be
cigarettes, pipes, bidis, kreteks (clove cigarettes),
chewing tobacco, betel nut used with tobacco or cigars. 

    WHO emphasized that the industry's use of misleading
descriptors and manufacturing methods, such as mild, light,
low tar, full flavour, fruit-flavoured, chocolate-flavored,
natural, additive-free, and organic do not make tobacco
products safer.
 
    Dr Omi stated: "All these products and practices
are deadly and addictive, and thus the absence of truthful
information deprives even well intended people of the
ability to make healthy choices." 

    Dr Omi called on governments in the Western Pacific
Region to enact stronger and wider regulation of tobacco
products through rapid implementation of the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control, the world's tobacco-control
treaty.  The Convention is a binding international law for
most countries in the Western Pacific Region, including
Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Viet
Nam.

    At the same time, Dr Omi praised the outstanding
efforts of individuals and organizations for their
contributions to the fight against the tobacco epidemic in
the Region.  

    Dr Homer Wei-Kwok Tso, Chairman of the Hong Kong
Council on Smoking and Health (COSH), received the WHO
Director-General's award for tobacco control. Dr Tso has
been a major force in supporting legislative amendments on
tobacco-control measures.  Through his leadership, COSH has
been a strong partner of the Government of Hong Kong in
keeping the smoking prevalence of Hong Kong below 15%.  

    This year's World No Tobacco Awards in the Western
Pacific Region go to the following:

    Adventist Development and Relief Agency's Tobacco or
Health, Cambodia

    ADRA Cambodia's Tobacco or Health is recognized as one
of the most effective agencies to provide awareness on
tobacco use and to reduce smoking prevalence in Cambodia.
The programme has developed various smoking cessation tools
which have helped thousands of smokers to quit.  

    Dr Yang Gonghuan, Deputy Director, Chinese Center for
Disease Control and Prevention

    In May 2002, Dr Yang organized "The National
Conference on Tobacco Control Policy Development in China
in the 21st Century"-the first meeting to discuss the
tobacco control strategy in China.  She persuaded the
Chinese Government to be more active in tobacco control
through advocacy and debate with the Chinese Tobacco
Monopolization Company. 

    Ms Bae Keum-Ja, Attorney At Law, Republic of Korea

    Keum-Ja Bae is currently leading tobacco litigation
cases in South Korea, including one against KT&G, a
major Korean tobacco company.  Through the litigation, the
harmful effects of tobacco were widely publicized, and her
work has led to significantly increased regulations on
tobacco.  

    Ms Lou Leon Guerrero, Former Senator, Guam

    Former Senator Lou Leon Guerrero spearheaded a law in
2003 that raised tobacco taxes on Guam by 1400%.  She also
authored a bill that banned smoking in restaurants and
mandated strict limitations in bars.

    Nabila Village, Fiji

    Elders of Tobacco-free Village-Nabila have adopted
tobacco-free policies and undertaken their own policing of
tobacco-free initiatives.  The elders of the village
convinced locals to ban tobacco in any form or guise. 
Since then, other neighbouring villages had been made aware
of the adverse health effects of tobacco and have adopted
the same tobacco-free policies.

    Fact Sheet

    Global

    -- Smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of
death.
    -- Tobacco claims 4.9 million lives a year, and if the
present consumption 
       patterns continue, the number of deaths will
increase by 2020 to 10 
       million, 70% of which will occur in developing
countries.
    -- There are an estimated 1.3 billion smokers and half
of them (some 650 
       million people) are expected to die prematurely of a
tobacco-related 
       disease.
    -- At the current rate, the number of smokers will rise
from today's 1.3 
       billion to 1.7 billion by 2025.
    -- Tobacco is an addictive plant containing nicotine,
many carcinogens and 
       other toxins. When transformed into products
designed to deliver 
       nicotine efficiently, its toxic effects, responsible
for causing many   
       diseases, are often magnified because the process of
increasing 
       exposure to nicotine often results in increases in
exposure to the many 
       poisons in the products. 
    -- Much of the disease and premature mortality caused
by tobacco may be 
       considered as side-effects of the disease of
addiction. Tobacco 
       dependence itself is a disease, described in the
International 
       Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).  

    Western Pacific Region

    -- Tobacco kills more than 3000 people each day in the
Region.
    -- The Western Pacific has one third of the world's
smokers, the highest 
       rate of male smokers and the fastest increase of
smoking among children
       and young women.
    -- Smoking is among the leading causes of death and
disease in Western 
       Pacific Region.

    China

    -- China is the world's biggest producer of tobacco
    -- China has the world's largest number of smokers - an
estimated 320 
       million
    -- China has the world's largest number of deaths from
tobacco-related 
       illnesses - an estimated one-million each year
    -- On 11 October 2005, China ratified the WHO Framework
Convention on 
       Tobacco Control, which then became binding
international law in China 
       on 9 January 2006.  Under the Convention, China has
committed to begin 
       implementing tougher measures to curb tobacco use
(see below)
    -- China is actively preparing for a
"smoke-free" 2008 Olympic Games in 
       Beijing 

    WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 

    -- The Convention is a major public health treaty that
gives people 
       protection from tobacco for the first time by
setting international 
       standards on tobacco price and tax increases,
tobacco advertising and 
       sponsorship, labelling, illicit trade and
second-hand smoke.
    -- Entered into force on 27 February 2005; 127
countries have ratified the 
       Convention, including 26 of 27 eligible countries in
the Western 
       Pacific Region. 
    -- Countries that signed up will be obliged to ban
advertising and 
       sponsorship promoting tobacco products, forbid sales
to minors, force 
       companies to print larger health warnings on
cigarette packs, use 
       taxation to reduce consumption and clamp down on
smuggling.
    -- The Convention has the potential to save over 10
million lives per 
       year.

    For more information, please contact:

     Mr Burke Fishburn
     Regional Coordinator
     Tobacco Free Initiative
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

    For China queries, please contact:

     Mr Roy Wadia
     Communications and Advocacy Officer
     WHO China
     Tel:    [phone] 
             [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail] 

SOURCE  The World Health Organization