May 31 2011: The World No Tobacco Day

31 May:World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) selects "The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" as the theme of the next World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on Tuesday, 31 May 2011.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the world's foremost tobacco control instrument. The first treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO, it represents a signal achievement in the advancement of public health.

At the same time, WHO recognizes that challenges remain for the public health treaty to reach its full potential as the world's most powerful tobacco control tool.

In force only since 2005, it is already one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, with more than 170 Parties. An evidence-based treaty, it reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health and provides new legal dimensions for cooperation in tobacco control.

Implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Since it was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2003, 172 countries and the European Union have become Parties to the WHO FCTC. Among other measures, the Parties are obliged over time to:

• protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke
• ban tobacco advertising and sales to minors
• put large health warnings on packages of tobacco
• ban or limit additives to tobacco products
• increase tobacco taxes
• create a national coordinating mechanism for tobacco control.

This year, the tobacco epidemic will kill nearly 6 million people, including some 600 000 nonsmokers who will die from exposure to tobacco smoke. By 2030, it could kill 8 million.

"The treaty's ultimate success against the tobacco industry depends on the extent to which the Parties meet all of their obligations," says the WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan. "More needs to be done for the treaty to achieve its full potential. It is not enough to become a Party to the treaty. Countries must also pass, or strengthen, the necessary implementing legislation and then rigorously enforce it."

Tobacco use is one of the biggest contributors to the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases - such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema - which accounts for 63% of all deaths, nearly 80% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. Up to half of all tobacco users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.

World No Tobacco Day 2011 Event: Supporting the FCTC

Time: 18.00 - 20.00, 31 May 2011

Avenue: Members’ Salon, European Parliament, Brussels

Host: Glenis Willmott MEP

Event Brief:

This event will provide an opportunity to celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2011 in a relaxed atmosphere over drinks and food and to acknowledge all EU officials and Parliamentarians that have supported the aims of the WHO FCTC.

The FCTC is the world's foremost tobacco control instrument. The first treaty ever negotiated under the auspices of WHO, it represents a significant achievement in the advancement of public health. In force only since 2005, it is already one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, with more than 170 Parties. An evidence-based treaty, it reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health and provides a new legal dimension for cooperation in tobacco control.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts