Tobacco free initiative
WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 - The MPOWER Package
WHO REPORT DOCUMENTS STATUS OF GLOBAL EFFORTS AGAINST TOBACCO AND OUTLINES POLICY PACKAGE
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world and one of the biggest public health threats the world is facing today. In the 20th century, the tobacco epidemic killed 100 million people worldwide. During the 21st century, it could kill one billion. Currently it kills 5.4 million people a year. Unless urgent action is taken, it will kill more than 8 million people a year by 2030.
WHO Director General, Dr Margaret Chan launched the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 at a news conference with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on 7 February 2008 in New York, USA. Bloomberg Philanthropies helped fund the report.
The global analysis, compiled by WHO with information provided by 179 Member States, gives governments and other groups a baseline from which to monitor efforts to stop the epidemic in the years ahead. WHO finds that only 5% of the world’s population lives in countries that fully protect their population with any one of the key measures that reduce smoking rates.
The MPOWER package provides countries with a roadmap to help them meet their commitments to the widely embraced global tobacco treaty known as the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into force in 2005.
The recommended MPOWER strategies are:
- 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, promotion and sponsorship
- Raise taxes on tobacco
To download the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 – The MPOWER Package, click this link - MPOWER.