WHO: One-Third of Global Population Now Protected by Tobacco Control Policies  

Source from:  Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK)  07/11/2013

A new report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that thanks to strong action taken by many countries around the world, more than one-third of the world's population is now protected by at least one effective tobacco control measure.

The latest figure signifies a promising trend in countries' efforts to protect people from the deadly harms of tobacco use.

The WHO report focuses on bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) – one of the most powerful tools countries can implement to reduce tobacco use.

Key findings from the report include:

In the past two years the population protected from tobacco marketing has more than doubled and today nearly 400 million more people are protected.
99 percent of the people covered by these newly enacted bans are from low- and middle-income countries - where the tobacco industry has increasingly launched new marketing tactics to hook its next generation of smokers.
The report was released with the support of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use – a leading force in the fight against global tobacco use. The report is the fourth to be released by the WHO since the introduction of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first international health treaty, which obligates parties to implement proven measures to reduce tobacco use.

While the study finds significant global progress, there is still much work to be done in implementing these proven FCTC policies. Less than 10 percent of the world's population is currently covered by a complete TAPS ban and 67 countries do not ban any tobacco industry advertising or promotion activities. These figures mean that billions of people around the world are routinely exposed to industry marketing campaigns aimed to lure in new smokers and keep smokers hooked.

Without urgent action to implement proven policies to reduce tobacco use – including bans on tobacco advertising – tobacco use will claim one billion lives across the world this century. Enditem