[afro-nets] UN Global Treaty Meant to Curb Tobacco Use and Save Lives

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Officials Fortify a UN Global Treaty Meant to Curb Tobacco Use
and Save Lives
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New York, Feb 22 2006, 7:00PM

More than 100 countries agreed this month to a series of con-
crete steps that will propel a United Nations global treaty
closer toward its goal of saving lives by curbing tobacco use
among the world's 1.3 billion smokers.

Among the measures hammered out during the two-week conference
in Geneva were moves to study economically viable alternatives
to tobacco growing and production as well as developing legally
binding instruments to monitor cross-border advertising and il-
licit trade. The measures are intended to further strengthen the
World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Con-
trol since it entered into force nearly one year ago.

Conference President Juan Martabit of Chile said all the dele-
gates gathered at this first meeting of the Conference of Par-
ties, the Treaty's governing body, shared the urgency of the
problems of worldwide tobacco use. "I am confident we are on
track to save millions of lives in the near future, thanks to
this Treaty," said Mr. Martabit, who is Chile's Permanent Repre-
sentative to the UN Office at Geneva.

The delegates agreed to establish the permanent secretariat of
the Treaty within WHO headquarters in Geneva. The delegates set-
tled on a two-year $8 million budget, which would be funded
through voluntary assessed contributions.

As the second major cause of death in the world, tobacco is now
responsible for about 5 million deaths annually, according to
WHO, which estimates that 84 per cent of the world's 1.3 billion
smokers live in developing and transitional economy countries.

The WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative believes the most cost-
effective strategies to curb tobacco consumption are population-
wide public policies, like tobacco advertising bans, tobacco tax
and price increases, smoke-free environments in all public and
workplaces, and graphic health messages on tobacco packaging.

All of these measures are required under the Treaty's provi-
sions, including some with deadlines. For example, from the
Treaty's entry into force, countries have three years to enforce
health warnings on tobacco products and five years to implement
comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and spon-
sorship.