Tobacco
use is an epidemic of global proportions and one of the biggest public health
threats of the 21st Century. According to data from the World
Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use kills more than 5 million people each
year and is responsible for 1 in 10 adult deaths worldwide. Over the course of the
20th century, tobacco killed over 100 million people and it is
estimated that it could claim the lives of up to 1 billion
people in the 21st century if the present
consumption patterns continue.
As
such, the focus of this year’s World No
Tobacco Day is on The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (WHO FCTC), the
first international public health treaty with the aim of reducing the
considerable health, social, environmental and economic burdens associated with
tobacco consumption and exposure to second-hand smoke.
A
key measure set out by the WHO FCTC to help aid development of more effective tobacco control policies is the widespread publication of
data and findings that highlight the burden of tobacco
use, as well as the status and effectiveness of tobacco control policy implementation.
Tobacco Induced Diseases, the official
journal of the International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced
Diseases, aims to facilitate communication and broad dissemination of
knowledge on all aspects of tobacco induced diseases and their prevention. The
hope is that such knowledge will promote and foster public health education
about the hazards of tobacco use.
On 31st
May, the WHO will be renewing its call to governments
to join the treaty, in addition to urging members of the public to demand that
their governments fully comply with their obligations under the Framework
Convention.
Read
more articles from Tobacco Induced Diseases
or follow the World No Tobacco
Day campaign on Facebook.
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