World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on May 31. The member states of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987. It draws global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to its negative health effects. The day aims to reduce the 5.4 million yearly deaths from tobacco related health problems. From 1988 the WHO has presented one or more World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Awards to organizations or individuals who have made exceptional contributions to reducing tobacco consumption. On May 31st, 2008 the WHO called for a complete ban on tobacco advertising; the organization said studies establish a relationship between exposure to cigarette advertisement and starting smoking.
# In 1987, the World Health Assembly passed Resolution WHA40.38, calling for April 7, 1988 to be "a world no-smoking day".
# In 1988, Resolution WHA42.19 was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on May 31
Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today -that is about 650 million people- will eventually be killed by tobacco.
The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2009 is "Tobacco Health Warnings", with an emphasis on the picture warnings that have been shown to be particularly effective at making people aware of the health risks of tobacco use and convincing them to quit. More and more countries are fighting back against the epidemic of tobacco by requiring that packages of tobacco show the dangers of the product's use, as called for in guidelines to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Call for pictorial warnings on tobacco packs
29 MAY 2009 | GENEVA -- WHO today urged governments to require that all tobacco packages include pictorial warnings to show the sickness and suffering caused by tobacco use.
WHO's call to action comes on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, 31 May. This year's campaign focuses on decreasing tobacco use by increasing public awareness of its dangers.
Studies reveal that even among people who believe tobacco is harmful, few understand its specific health risks. Despite this, health warnings on tobacco packages in most countries do not provide information to warn consumers of the risks.
A 2009 survey in China revealed that only 37% of smokers knew that smoking causes coronary heart disease and only 17% knew that it causes stroke. A 2003 survey in Syria found that only a small fraction of university students correctly identified cardiovascular disease as a hazard of cigarette or water pipe smoking. Research in other countries shows similar results.
The leading preventable cause of death, tobacco kills more than five million people every year. It is the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer.
Effective health warnings, especially those that include pictures, have been proven to motivate users to quit and to reduce the appeal of tobacco for those who are not yet addicted. Studies carried out after the implementation of pictorial package warnings (warnings using pictures and text) in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand reveal remarkably consistent findings on the positive impact of the warnings.
"Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives," said WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Ala Alwan. "But they only work if they communicate the risk. Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioural changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption."
Yet only 10% of the people in the world live in countries that require warnings with pictures on tobacco packages.
"In order to survive, the tobacco industry needs to divert attention from the deadly effects of its products," said Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative. "It uses multi-million dollar promotional campaigns, including carefully crafted package designs, to ensnare new users and keep them from quitting."
"Health warnings on tobacco packages can be a powerful tool to illuminate the stark reality of tobacco use," Dr Bettcher added.
NOTE : In India pictorial warnings will be compulsory from 1st June 2009
Questions and Answers
1. Why do we need picture-based warnings on all tobacco packages?
- Tobacco kills more than five million people each year. It is the leading preventable cause of death – and the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as the manufacturer intends.
- Up to half of all smokers will die from a tobacco-related disease. Second-hand smoke harms everyone who is exposed to it. Yet studies reveal that too few people understand the real health risks of tobacco.
- The tobacco industry spends millions of dollars marketing its products, designing attractive packages to ensnare new users and keep them using tobacco. Its work is made easier because tobacco packages in most countries don't warn consumers about tobacco's deadly effects.
- Health warnings that combine words and pictures are one of the most cost-effective ways to increase public awareness of the serious health risks of tobacco use and to reduce tobacco consumption.
2. But why use pictures? Aren't text-based warnings effective?
- Warnings that graphically show the terrible effects of using tobacco are more visible on packages than text-only warnings. They compete more successfully with the rest of the package design – standing out and sending a clear message.
- Not everyone can read. Picture-based warnings are critical for communicating health risks to the large number of people who are illiterate and for reducing health inequality.
- Picture-based warnings help counter the tobacco industry's use of branding and imagery. By detracting from the overall attractiveness of tobacco packaging, the warnings deter new users, who are often the most vulnerable to the companies' manipulation.
3. Do picture-based warnings work?
4. Don't people become indifferent to the pictures over time, or just cover or hide the pictures?
- Countries that have introduced picture-based warnings on tobacco packages have seen a rapid, dramatic increase in the awareness of tobacco health risks and the likelihood of quitting.
- It's possible people may become indifferent to particular pictures over time. That's why it's so important to change the warnings from time to time.
- Although tobacco users can cover or hide the pictures, studies show that few do and that such avoidance does not decrease the warnings' effectiveness in motivating behavioural change among smokers (such as quitting) and may actually increase it.
- Tobacco companies meticulously study their target users and finesse their package designs to make them as tempting as possible. Tobacco-free campaigns should try to counter these schemes. Using a variety of warnings, and changing them regularly, makes the messages more relevant to a variety of audiences and helps prevent them from becoming stale.
5. Are picture-based warnings fair and legal for the tobacco industry?
- Tobacco companies oppose picture-based warnings because – quite correctly – they see them as a threat to their business.
- Consumers of tobacco products have a right to know about the dangerous health consequences of tobacco use. Requiring tobacco companies to place warnings on packages is fair, just and legal.
- The tobacco industry has challenged the legality of picture-based warnings in court and failed. The industry lost its only serious court challenge against picture-based warnings before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2007.
- The tobacco industry's arguments that it takes too long and costs too much to implement picture-based warnings have no factual basis. Most of the costs of these consumer warnings are paid by the company itself – not by governments – and the savings from reduced health-care costs are enormous. Picture-based warnings can also be implemented quickly: the tobacco industry has demonstrated that it is able to produce packages with these warnings in as little as six months.
6. What countries are using picture-based warnings?
- More and more countries are requiring picture-based warnings on tobacco packaging. As of 31 May 2009, 23 jurisdictions with a combined population of nearly 700 million require large graphic health warnings on packaging. Several others – Djibouti, Latvia, Mauritius and Switzerland – have finalized legislation to implement pictorial warnings later in 2009 and in 2010.
- More than 160 countries have ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, making it one of the most widely embraced treaties in United Nations history. The treaty commits its Parties to requiring that tobacco products "carry health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use". The Article 11 best-practice guidelines to the treaty stipulate that warnings should be large and clear, appear on both sides of tobacco packages and describe specific illnesses caused by tobacco.
- Yet only 10% of people live in countries that require warnings with pictures on tobacco packages.
7. What is the World Health Organization doing to control the epidemic of tobacco and to help countries meet their commitments under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control?
- In 2008, WHO unveiled MPOWER – a technical assistance package of proven cost-effectiveness and ability to save lives.
- By implementing the six tobacco control measures comprising MPOWER, even low-income countries can go far towards countering the epidemic and meeting their commitments under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
8. A recent study suggests that smokers are more likely to remember low-key anti-smoking advertisements on television than attention-grabbing advertisements. Given that, why should governments use shocking photos on tobacco warnings?
- One study isn't enough to negate the broad body of research that shows graphic or shocking images are more effective than low-key images at motivating people to quit.
- Although participants in the study were said to have been more likely to remember low-key ads than attention-grabbing ads, the other important question is: What do people do with the information after they receive it? In other words, which type of ad is more effective at convincing people to stop using tobacco? So far, the preponderance of the evidence confirms that ads showing the physical harm and suffering caused by tobacco work best.
- It is still not clear if the lessons from the study of televised messages would apply to static warnings on tobacco packages. Nevertheless, we must continue to refine the tools we use to communicate the risks of tobacco. Studies of how the brain responds to tobacco warnings can be used in balance with other research and experience to plan even more effective communication strategies.
- Such health communications research is needed if we are to continue making progress against the epidemic of tobacco. The World Health Organization applauds all efforts to bring new evidence to light.
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization. It was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005. It has since become one of the most widely embraced treaties in UN history and, as of today, has already 164 Parties.
The WHO FCTC was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. The Convention represents a milestone for the promotion of public health and provides new legal dimensions for international health cooperation.
REASONS TO QUIT SMOKING
Around 5.4 million people die each year worldwide because of smoking and tobacco related disease, according to the World Health Organization – including over 438,000 Americans, 650,000 Europeans and 1.2 million people in China.
Tobacco use will kill 1 billion people worldwide in the 21st century if current smoking trends continue.
6.6 billion people are on this planet and 1.3 billion are smokers, the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) and the World Lung Foundation (WLF) told the 38th Union World Conference on Lung Health.
66 percent of all smokers live in just 15 countries, according to The Union and the WLF.
1.8 billion young people aged of 10 to 24 smoke cigarettes, according to the World Health Organization.
* More than 85 percent of these young smokers live in developing countries (WHO).
Nearly one billion men and 250 million women use tobacco every day around the world, according to a study presented at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health.
There are thought to be 800 million smokers in developing countries and only 1.1 billion smokers worldwide (WHO). 45+ million Americans smoked in 2006. That's 20.8 percent of Americans, according to estimates from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
American men smoked at a rate of nearly 24 percent of the population, while 18 percent of women smoked.
2.4 million cases of cancer in the US from 1999 to 2004 were caused by tobacco use, according to the CDC
Ready to die in middle age? Keep smoking, according to researchers in Norway who tracked more than 50,000 people for a quarter century.
"Tobacco shortens the lifespan of smokers by 25 years with about 70% of people who begin smoking from their teens die by age 45", Dr. Akwasi Osei, Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital said.
Quit smoking and watch the risk of dying in middle age quickly fall. Give yourself the chance to live longer.
* 41 percent of men who smoked a pack or more a day died in middle age, compared to 14 percent of those who never smoked.
* 26 percent of women who smoked heavily died in middle age, compared to 9 percent of those who never smoked.
* 44.5 million Americans, currently smoke or about 21 percent of American adults, according to estimates from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
* In 2007, 168,000 Americans will die of cancer due to tobacco use (American Cancer Society).
* Smoking-related deaths in NYC fell more than 11 percent from 8,722 to 7,744 during 2002 to 2006 (after the New York City smoking ban).
* Up to 2.5 million people in China will die annually by 2025, if growing tobacco use in China continues at current trends the Beijing Daily Messenger reported, citing World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.
* "One hour with a shisha (hookah) is equivalent to something between 100 and 200 cigarettes," Dr Fatima el-Awa, from the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office said.
# In the Western Pacific region, tobacco kills more than 3000 people each day. It's the leading cause of death. 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.
# This year lung cancer, primarily caused by smoking, 1,351,000 people: 975,000 men and 376,000 women, the American Cancer Society, according to the American Cancer Society.
# Each day about 13,500 people worldwide die from smoking-related diseases
# 13,000 Scots are killed every year by tobacco where about 30% of the population smokes. Up to 2,000 people die of passive smoking annually.
* Smoking kills regardless of class -- rich, poor, male or female, according to a 28 year long study by researchers from Glasgow University and NHS Scotland (British Medical Journal (BMJ) online).
* Smoking kills 6 times more Scots than accidents, murder, suicide, falls and poisoning combined (Edinburgh Evening News).
# In Ireland, 6,000 people die each year in Ireland from smoking-related diseases.
# In the Philippines, 20,000 Filipinos die from smoking-related illnesses each year (that's 2 every hour). Smoking is linked to 5 of the top 10 leading causes of deaths, according to Government data.
# In Croatia, a country with 4.4 million people, nearly 13,000 of them die each year because of smoking.
* 3,000 of those deaths are from passive smoking.
# Some 6,000 Cubans die from smoking-related illnesses.
# In New Zealand, around 5,000 kiwis die every year because of smoking-related diseases.
# About 7 people die each day in Uruguay from smoking-related causes including lung cancer, emphysema and other illnesses, anti-smoking groups estimate.
# In Nigeria, 6.5 million citizens are expected to die from smoking over time.
# In France, there are about 66,000 smoking-related deaths each year and up to 5,800 deaths from passive smoking, inhaling the smoke of smokers. About 12 million people are smokers, 25 percent of the population.
# Mexico has around 65,000 cigarette-related deaths a year. The country has 105 million people.
# In Spain, there are 50,000 smoking-related deaths annually. About 30 percent of Spaniards smoke.
# In South Korea, an estimated 49,000 people die each year of smoking-related diseases, according to the private Korean Association of Smoking and Health.
# 50,000 Iranians die each year from tobacco related illnesses, according to the government. Some say the number of deaths is 60,000 a year.
# In Malaysia, nearly 40,000 people died of smoking-related diseases in the last 5 years, now around 10,000 a year.
# In Vietnam, 40,000 citizens die every year due to diseases caused by smoking.
# In Canada, 37,000 people die from smoking every year, according to the Ministry of Health.
* In British Columbia, CAN, 6,000 people die each year from smoking.
* In the Alberta province, smoking claims 3,400 people's lives due to tobacco.
# In Egypt, there are 34,000 tobacco-related deaths each year.
# 33,000 Romanians die every year because of smoking. There were 6.5 million smokers aged 25 to 44 years old in Romania.
# In Saudi Arabia, 22,000 Saudis die of smoking related diseases every year, according to the Anti-Smoking Society.
# In Greece, where 45% of the population smokes, an estimated 20,000 people die of smoking-related diseases each year.
* 600 people die every year from passive smoking.
* The number of smokers in Greece has gone up 10 percent in 10 years.
* Passive smoking kills estimated 600 people each year in Greece.
# In South Africa, 20,000 adults die each year from smoking, according to the Medical Research Council (MRC).
# In Australia, 19,000 deaths a year are caused by smoking. Roughly 20% of the Australian population smokes.
* Aboriginal life expectancy is 17 years less than non-indigenous Australians. Their high smoking rate gets part of the blame. Government officials are trying to address the issue.
* More than 3400 Queenslanders die because of smoking each year.
* 3,000 Victorians die of smoking every year.
# Quitting smoking is being attributed to Victorian (Australia) males born in 2006 having a life expectancy of 80 years old. This puts them ahead of Japanese men's average life expectancy of 79 years.
# Highest US smoking death rate according to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:
* Kentucky
* West Virginia
* Nevada
* Mississippi
*Oklahoma
* Tennessee
* Arkansas
* Alabama
* Indiana
* Missouri
The lowest US death rates from smoking were Utah and Hawaii (CDC).
# In India, about 900,000 Indians a year die from smoking-related diseases, that's nearly one in 10 of all deaths in India. Half of Indian males use tobacco and it is becoming more popular with younger people.
* Nearly 6 lakh people die from bidi-smoking evey year in India, according to the Caught in a Death Trap: A Study on Bidi Rollers of West Bengal and Gujarat study.
# In Russia, smoking kills between 400,000 and 500,000 Russians every year from smoking ailments.
# In Japan, smoking is the leading cause of death and is responsible for 20% of all cancers. 50 percent of men and 14 percent of women smoke.
# In Indonesia, an estimated 200,000 people die each year of smoking-related diseases.
* About a quarter of deaths in 2005 were from smoking and 80 percent of lung and respiratory cancer cases were due to smoking.
* About 220 million cigarettes were smoked by Indonesians in 2006.
# About 140,000 Germans die every year from tobacco-related illnesses. Nearly one in three German adults smokes regularly. Some studies estimate that 3,000-4,000 deaths per year can be attributed to passive smoking.
# In Turkey, around 110,000 people each year die of smoking-related illnesses, according to official figures.
# Around 100 million people died because of tobacco use in the 20th century.
# 10 years of life are robbed from smokers because they die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. Smoking also steals 10 years of physical functioning in old age (making smokers act really old), according to Live Fast, Die Young, Leave a Good-Looking Corpse by David M. Burns, MD (Archives of Internal Medicine).
# Smoking causes more death and disability than any single disease (World Health Organization).
# A "death clock" now follows the tobacco use death toll since October 1999, just under 40 million and counting. It was set up by the World Health Organization in October 2008.
# 650,000 Europeans die each year from tobacco-related diseases, EU figures reveal.
# Around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco.
* Smoking is set to kill 6.5 million people in 2015 and 8.3 million humans in 2030, with the biggest rise in low-and middle-income countries.
* Every 6.5 seconds a current or former smoker dies, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
* An estimated 1.3 billion people are smokers worldwide (WHO).
# Over 443,000 Americans (over 18 percent of all deaths) die because of smoking each year. Secondhand smoke kills about 50,000 of them.
# 1.2 million people in China die because of smoking each year. That's 2,000 people a day.
# Tobacco use will kill 1 billion people in the 21st century if current smoking trends continue.
More than two thirds of the world's smokers live in just 10 countries (WHO):
1. China
2. India
3. Indonesia
4. Russia
5. US
6. Japan
7. Brazil
8. Bangladesh
9. Germany
10. Turkey
Tobacco is a "major health problem" in Southeast Asia. "Approximately 50 percent of males smoke and youths, especially girls, continue to take up smoking," experts from eight of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members said. ASEAN consists of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The global anti-smoking pact was operational beginning February 27, 2005 for countries that have actually ratified it. It was the first international treaty against smoking, including an advertising ban, and was signed by more than 190 countries on May 21, 2003.
In China, there are about 350 million smokers (about 25 percent of the population). It's also one-third of the world's smokers, according to World Health Organization statistics.
* 100 million smokers in China are under the age of 18, according to the Chinese health ministry.
* Did you you that just 10 percent of Chinese Americans smoke in the US as opposed to the 36 percent smoking rate in China itself?
*
About 40 million of China's 130 million children aged 13 to 18 had tried smoking, according to a Health Ministry report.
*
56.8 percent male Chinese doctors smoke, highest in the world, according to a report by the China Preventive Medicine Association.
Spain deals low price tobacco brands a blow. 9 months after passing tough new legislation limiting lighting up in public places, which set off a bitter price war by tobacco manufacturers, Spain hiked cigarette tobacco taxes to 70 euros (90 dollars) per 1,000 cigarettes.
"20 million cigarettes are smoked every day in Egypt (that's billions of cigarettes each year). . . There are no accurate figures for shisha (hookahs) but it is becoming a modern trend," Egyptian Health Minister Hatem al-Gabal said.
* "An average of 2.5 percent of household income is spent on tobacco in Egypt, which is more than on health and leisure," Dr Fatima el-Awa, from the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office said.
Did you know that the regular tobacco waterpipe (hookah) smoker is exposed to larger amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide and certain other toxins than the typical cigarette smoker? (WHO).
In India, 40 percent of all health problems were due to tobacco, according to Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss.
* Nearly 17 percent of students in India, aged 15 and under, use some form of tobacco, mainly cigarettes, according to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization.
* Can you believe some 37 percent of kids below the age of 10 tried smoking cigarettes? This, however, is down from 49 percent of Indian children who tried their first cigarette (from WHO study above).
* Teaching tobacco use? More than a third of school personnel, including teaching staff, are tobacco users (from WHO study above).
Numbers Don't Lie: Percentage of International Smokers
Mexico has 13 million smokers within its population of 105 million.
* Around half the adult population are smokers or ex-smokers, according to the National Statistics Institute.
In Russia, 60 percent of men smoke and 30 percent of women as well.
* In 1992, 7 percent of Russian women smoked vs almost 15 percent by 2003, according to a journal Tobacco Control report (see below).
* The number of Russian men who smoke rose from 57 percent to 63 percent.
In India, an estimated 120 million people smoke. But unlike Western countries, smoking is on the rise in India.
* Cigarettes compromise just 19 percent of tobacco consumption. Bidis account for 53 percent, according to the Bidi Smoking and Public Health report by the Union Ministry of Health and Family.
* Did you know that 800 million bidis are sold in India each year (see above)
* Bidis contain more tar, nicotine and other toxic substances but less tobacco than traditional cigarettes.
In Egypt, nearly 60 percent of the men use tobacco in some form in a country of 79 million people. Nearly half the men smoke.
In Vietnam, not long ago more than 70 percent of men and nearly 5 percent of women regularly light up. Now just 56% of men and 1.8% of women smoker.
* Young smokers make 31% of the total.
In Turkey, nearly 66 percent of men, 20 percent of women and 11.7 percent of school children smoke. That's 25 million smokers in a country of 75 million smoking 115 billion cigarettes a year. Wow!
Around half of Venezuela's 26 million people smoke.
In Greece, 45 percent of people smoke.
* An estimated 600 people die each year from passive smoking.
* Around one in three 12-18 year olds tried smoking.
* 10 percent of Greek 12-18 year olds is addicted to smoking, according to a 2007 survey.
* Smoking-related diseases cost Greece more than 2 billion euros a year.
In Italy, between 14 and 16 million people smoke out of a total population of 58 million. In 2004, more than 26 percent of Italians smoked. That dropped to 24.3 percent in 2006 following the country's ban on January 10, 2005.
Over a third of Indonesia's 230 million people smoke vs. just over 25 percent about a decade ago. This reverses smoking trends worlwide.
* 63 percent of Indonesian men smoke
* Indonesia is the world's 5th largest cigarette market.
* A traditional clove cigarette, called "kretek", first introduced in the late 19th century to ward off illnesses, is still the cigarette of choice in Indonesia for about 90 percent of smokers.
* "Kreteks" have about twice the nicotine and tar levels of ordinary cigarettes.
* Some Indonesians smokers begin as early as 5 years old, government figures show.
* Over 90 percent of Indonesia children have watched cigarette TV ads, according to the South-East Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).
In Japan, 26 percent of adults smoke, a record low. The number of Japanese smokers has continued to fall since 1996. Young 20-something smokers clocked in at 14.3 percent, while 32.7 percent of those age 60 and up smoked, according to the annual survey by Japan Tobacco Inc, Japan's largest tobacco maker.
* Japanese men's smoking rate was 60 percent in 1990 and currently 40 percent.
* Japanese women's smoking rate was 12 percent to 15 percent.
In the Philippines, up to 35 percent of the country's 89 million people use tobacco.
* 4 million Filipino young people between 11 and 19 years old smoke. About 21.6 percent of all young Filipino smokers vs about 18 percent in 2005 and 15 percent in 2003. And that number may continue to grow, in spite of new restrictions on tobacco ads, according to a 2007 survey commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Philippines health department.
* 1.8 million of these young smokers were girls.
*
Put your money where your butt is. Rural Green Bank of Caraga (Agusan del Norte province) offers an alternative quit-smoking program, a savings account. They teamed up with the non-government group Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). A smoker, wanting to quit, opens a savings account where they deposit the money he would have spent on cigarettes for 6 months. If they are smoke-free aftter 6 months they can claim the account and are encouraged to start a small enterprise. Failure means the amount deposited goes to charity (there is a second follow up nicotine test made 3 weeks later).
* Fr. Robert Reyes, a priest whose brother Vincent died of smoking, continues his brother's P500,000 damage suit against Philip Morris and urges smokers to sue cigarette companies.
In Nigeria, 13 million people smoke - - the smoking rate for adults is 17 percent and growing.
In Iran, there are more than 10 million smokers and more than 45% of Iranians exposed to secondhand smoking.
* The average smokers smokes 14 cigarettes a day.
In Nepal, 49 percent of the men and 29 percent of the women are smokers.
Around 38 percent of the Slovak population of 5.5 million smoked (2006).
British adults smoke were about 25 percent of the population. That's 10 million people.
*
Dance, dine and then quit smoking. Smokers first get tips to cook up tasty treats at a Preston restaurant; next they receive salsa dancing lessons; and finally, they are shown how to quit smoking by the NHS Central Lancashire Stop Smoking Service along with The Olive Press in Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire.
* Football team Hartlepool United drafted Nicotinell for a promotional campaign to get fans trying to quit smoking to register online and complete a questionnaire. They won £20,000 for the effort.
South African smoking has declined 40%: They smoked around 2 billion packs of cigarettes in 1990 vs 1.3 billion packs in 2005, according to a WHO report.
* In the the 1990s, tobacco tax rates skyrocketed 250 percent (see above).
About 33 percent of adults smoke in Argentina. The country is also one of the world's top 10 tobacco suppliers.
About 33 percent of Uruguay's 3.4 million people smoke, anti-smoking groups estimate.
In the Balkans, 30% to 40% of all adults smoking, making this European region one of the highest in Europe.
37 percent of Bosnians actively smoke and about 95 percent of 13-15 year old children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
In Croatia, 32 percent of the 4.4 million people who live there smoke.
The Czech Republic smoking rate is 26.6 percent. Unfortunately it was 26.2 percent 10 years ago.
* In 2006, 8.4 percent of Czech 15 year olds smoked, up from 5.8 percent in 1994.
Around 30 percent of Europeans aged 16 or more admit to being smokers, according to a study by pollsters at Eurobarometer published by the European Commission. Highlights of their findings:
* Greece with 42 percent of responders saying they smoked daily or occasionally.
* Bularia 39 percent
* Latvia 37 percent
* France 34 percent
* England 28 percent
* Sweden 25 percent
* Slovaks at 22 percent * 5 percent of the 26,500 European polls calling themselves occasional smokers
* 10 percent of smokers claimed they had gone to another EU country to buy cheaper smokes in the past year
* Less than a third of respondents believe the smoking kills warning on cigarette packets was effective
* 20 percent of smokers said the smoking kills warnings would persuade them to cut down or quit
* 22 percent of those surveyed said they quit smoking
* 46 percent of respondents said they had never smoked
In Iceland, about 24 percent of Icelanders smoke, 2005 was the most recent year statistics were avaiable.
22 percent of Finns smokes, Finalnd.
In Sweden, 14 percent of the population smokes, according to The Swedish National Institute of Public Health (Dagen's Nyheter newspaper). Low for Western Europe.
* 200,000 Swedes are no longer regular smokers in the past 5 years.
* Women smoke than men in Sweden. This is rare.
* Men who were sick or on disability were the only segment that increased smoking, up 19 percent.
* Swedes are turning to suns as a smokeless tobacco replacement for cigarettes, especially wonen.
* 14 percent.
The South Korean smoking rate was 21.9 percent in 2007, according to the Health ministry (Yonhap news agency).
* about 50 percent of South Korean men smoked, until 2006, when for the first time, the number of male smokers fell below 50 percent.
In Hong Kong, around 14 percent, or 800,000 of the city's 7 million people have the smoking habit. A low number compared to most countries.
In Malaysia 21.5 percent of the adult population smoked in 2006, down from 25 percent in 1996, according to the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey.
* The percentage of Malaysian women smokers has doubled to 480,000 in recent years, according to Health Ministry parliamentary secretary Lee Kah Choon.
* There were more than 2 million smokers overall.
* Malaysian smoking is increasing despite increasing prices and stepping up campaigns on smoking's health risks.
* 467,000 smokers were between 13 and 17 years old with almost 10 percent being girls.
In Thailand, the number of smokers fell to 9.4 million (17 percent) out of a population of 65 million.
* Thai smokers puff through 110 million cigarettes daily.
In Australia, 19 percent of the population smokes. That's down from 34 percent in 1980
* 140,000 Aussie children were weekly smokers.
* 32 percent of students tried smoking in 2007 (8 percent) VS 52 percent in 2001, ccording to a Auckland University survey.
* Australian asthmatics health problems and increased risks fail to spur them to quit smoking, according to a report by the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring.
New Zealand's smoking rate is 19.9 percent for people age 15 and older, the lowest level in more than 30 years. There are 150,000 fewer smokers in New Zealand now.
In lreland, smoking has increased since the 2004 smoking ban. 33% of the population smoked in 1998 that decreased to 27% by 2002 but rose to 29% in 2007, according to the Irish Government-commissioned National Health and Lifestyle Survey (SLÁN 2007).
In Canada, 5 million people smoke or 17 percent, according to the Ministry of Health.
* Canada's target for smokers in the country by 2011, 12 percent of the population. That's down from the current down from 19 percent of Canadians that smoke, according to Health Minister Tony Clement.
* WOW! 58 percent of Canadian Inuits smoke on a daily basis.
*
Since 1999, more than 1 million Canadians have quit smoking (Canadian Cancer Society).
* Canada estimates $16 billion dollars is paid by its government each year because of smoking and tobacco, including $4.4 billion in direct health care costs. * The 22 percent rate of Quebecers who smoke has held steady for 4 years.
* More than 100,000 Ontarians have quit smoking since 2006.
In Saudi Arabia, an estimated 35 to 40 percent of those above the age of 15 smoke.
* Around 24 percent of 13 to 15 year old male students smoke.
* 8 percent of girl students in the Kingdom smoke.
* The Saudi Arabian government spent about SR12 billion treating smoke-related ailments between 2000 and 2004.
* Smokers in the Kingdom must now pay higher premiums for their health insurance.
* In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a state-of-the-art smoking treatment clinic is being set up in 2009.
* There are more than 50 regular anti-smoking clinics in the kingdom now.
* Purchasing, supplies and maintenance departments in the Health ministry can't do business with tobacco companies (no more contracts).
* Tobacco companies and their board members can no longer register as contractors with the Health ministry.
*
The Kingdom is the top Arabian tobacco importer with Iran in 2nd place, Jordan 3rd, Turkey 4th, Morocco 5th and Egypt 6th (using 2007 statistics).
In Syria with nearly 20 million people, up to 60 percent of men and 24 percent of women smoke, according to a report by an official Syrian tobacco institution (the state news agency SANA).
* There has been a 15 percent rise in the number of smokers in Syria's smokers in spite of bans on tobacco ads and public place smoking (2006).
* Around 26 billion Syrian pounds (600 million dollars) is spent on tobacco and cigarettes by smokers each year.
* Around 8 percent of Syrian smoker's income is spent on 3.6 kilogrammes (about 8 pounds) of tobacco per smoker each year.
Singapore's smoking rate has risen. 13.6 percent of those aged 18 to 69 were daily smokers in 2007 vs 12.6 perent in 2004, according to the National Health Surveillance Survey 2007.
* 25 percent of males smoked 13 cigarettes a day on average daily.
* One in 27 females smoked 9 cigarettes daily.
* Mandatory counseling for under-aged first-time smoking offenders begins May 2009 because young adults aged 18 to 29 were the heaviest daily smokers.
* "No Butts Project" targets young adults who can redeem stamps when they attend smoking cessation events or counseling sessions.
* Singapore's Malay smokers faced the 2009 Muharam Challenge in which Malays ended the month long challenge with a 15% success rate of people quitting smoking vs. last year's 10.5 percent.
Bulgaria, where 52.4 of men are active smokers, is the third most active smoking nation among European members, according to a survey by the organizers of the "Help - a life without smoking" campaign.
*
50% of Bulgarians pregnant women are active smokers.
* 38.1% of women smoke today vs. 19% in 1986.
* About 33% of kids aged 10 to 19 is an active smoker.
* 1.9 million Bulgarians smoke an average of a pack a day.
In France 2008 cigarette sales were down 2.3 percent from 2007, a record low, according to research by British American Tobacco.
* 54.4 billion cigarettes were sold in 2008 at 5.30 euros a packet.
* 1998 cigarettes sales were almost 85 billion at 2.96 euros a packet.
UK: In 2008, 4,068 expected to quit on the Island out of 190,000 people estimated to attempt quitting in the South East, according to Smoking Toolkit study by Professor Robert West, a leading tobacco control expert.
* More than 164,000 people have stopped smoking since the England and Wales smoking bans started.
* Dundee, Scotland will give smokers from poor parts of the city $25 a week to buy fresh food. They must take weekly tests to prove they did not start back smoking again.
* In 2008, over 12,000 people contacted Stop Smoking Wales to help them quit smoking.
*
32 percent of Welsh smokers said they were smoking fewer cigarettes as a result of the ban.
Governments lost more than $40 billion in taxes because about 600 billion cigarettes were smuggled in 2006 or 11 percent of the world's consumption, according to the Framework Convention Alliance (FAC), an umbrella group of hundreds of anti-tobacco organizations, estimates.
Previous World No Tobacco Days
World No Tobacco Day is celebrated around the world every year on May 31.
This yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.
The Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. In 1987, the World Health Assemby passed Resolution WHA40.38, calling for 7 April 1988 to be a "a world no-smoking day." In 1988, Resolution WHA42.19 was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on 31 May.
- 2009 - tobacco health warnings
- 2008 - tobacco-free youth
- 2007 - smoke free inside
- 2006 - tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise
- 2005 - health professionals against tobacco
- 2004 - tobacco and poverty, a vicious circle
- 2003 - tobacco free film, tobacco free fashion
- 2002 - tobacco free sports
- 2001 - second-hand smoke kills
- 2000 - tobacco kills, don't be duped
- 1999 Leave the pack behind
- 1998 Growing up without tobacco
- 1997 United for a tobacco free world
- 1996 Sport and art without tobacco: play it tobacco free
- 1995 Tobacco costs more than you think
- 1994 Media and tobacco: get the message across
- 1993 Health services: our windos to a tobacco free world
- 1992 Tobacco free workplaces: safer and healthier
- 1991 Public places and transport: better be tobacco free
- 1990 Childhood and youth without tobacco: growing up without tobacco
source : Inputs from WHO website
