NEWS
WORLD
NO TOBACCO DAY 2017
Beating tobacco for health, prosperity, the
environment and national development
Countries can help prevent millions of people falling ill and dying
from tobacco-related disease by taking action to stamp out
tobacco use says the World Health Organisation.
To mark World No Tobacco Day 2017, (May 31) the WHO
highlighted how tobacco threatens the development of nations
worldwide, and called on governments to implement strong
tobacco control measures.
Tobacco use kills more than 7 million people every year and
costs households and governments over US$ 1.4 trillion through
healthcare expenditure and lost productivity.
“Tobacco threatens us all,” says WHO Director-General Dr
Margaret Chan. “Tobacco exacerbates poverty, reduces economic
productivity, contributes to poor household food choices, and
pollutes indoor air.
“By taking robust tobacco control measures, governments can
safeguard their countries’ futures by protecting tobacco users
and non-users from these deadly products, generating revenues
to fund health and other social services, and saving their
environments from the ravages tobacco causes.”
The first-ever WHO report, Tobacco and its environmental
impact: an overview, also shows the impact of this product
on nature, including:
• Tobacco waste contains over 7000 toxic chemicals that
poison the environment, including human carcinogens.
• Tobacco smoke emissions contribute thousands of tons
of human carcinogens, toxicants, and greenhouse gases
to the environment. And tobacco waste is the largest type
of litter by count globally.
• Up to 10 billion of the 15 billion cigarettes sold daily are
disposed in the environment.
• Cigarette butts account for 30–40% of all items collected in
coastal and urban clean-ups.
“Many governments are taking action against tobacco, from
banning advertising and marketing, to introducing plain packaging
for tobacco products, and smoke-free work and public places,”
says Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for
NCDs and Mental Health. “But one of the least used, but most
effective, tobacco control measures to help countries address
development needs is through increasing tobacco tax and prices.”
Governments collect nearly US$ 270 billion in tobacco excise
tax revenues each year, but this could increase by over 50%,
generating an additional US$ 141 billion, simply from raising
taxes on cigarettes by just US$ 0.80 per pack (equivalent to one
international dollar) in all countries said the WHO.
20 ISSUE 11 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE