WHO calls for more efforts to beat the tobacco scourge

MANILA, Sept. 28 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called on member countries in the Western Pacific region to be much more aggressive in their attempts to stamp out smoking if they are to counter the tobacco industry's marketing techniques.

The WHO said urgent action should be taken as it warned that the Western Pacific Region will be worst hit with an estimated two people die every minute from tobacco-related diseases.

Compared with other WHO regions, the Western Pacific has the greatest number of smokers, the highest rates of male smoking prevalence, and the fastest increase of tobacco uptake by women and young people.

Studies also show that up to 50 percent of all young people in the Region are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke pollution in their homes.

Outgoing WHO regional director Dr. Shigeru Omi, said the health body continues to put the highest priority on providing technical assistance, capacity-building and other support to countries in keeping with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which seeks to reduce cigarette consumption.

Omi said it is urgent that nations act now to implement cost-effective solutions that have been proven to reduce tobacco use.

"The global tobacco epidemic does not only affect the health of millions of people, but also threatens economies, costing nations hundreds of billions of dollars in health care expenditures and other economic losses each year," he said.

He also called for the implementation of MPOWER which stands for: Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; Protect people from tobacco smoke; Offer help to quit tobacco use; Warn about the dangers of tobacco; Enforce bans on tobacco advertising; and Raise taxes on tobacco.

Omi said WHO requires all nations to implement MPOWER.

"Tobacco use disproportionately hurts the poor and deepens poverty by siphoning off money needed for basic necessities such as food, shelter and education and killing wage earners in the prime of their lives," Omi said.

The FCTC encourages countries to implement tobacco control strategies such as raising taxes and banning advertisements.

The framework has been ratified in 152 countries with the Western Pacific being the only WHO Region that has achieved 100 percent ratification.

However, multinational tobacco companies have been skirting around provisions of the FCTC, including aggressively introducing new products and increasingly targeting the developing world.