WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY
is celebrated around the world every year on 31 MAY
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 Assembly 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.
Here are the themes for World No Tobacco Day
2010 -
The World Health Organization (WHO) selects "Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women" as the theme for the next World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on 31 May 2010.
Controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women is an important part of any comprehensive tobacco control strategy. World No Tobacco Day 2010 will be designed to draw particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing towards women and girls. It will also highlight the need for the nearly 170 Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in accordance with their constitutions or constitutional principles.
Women comprise about 20% of the world's more than 1 billion smokers. However, this figure is bound to increase. Male rates of smoking have peaked, while female rates are on the rise. Women are a major target of opportunity for the tobacco industry, which needs to recruit new users to replace the nearly half of current users who will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.
Especially troubling is the rising prevalence of tobacco use among girls. The new WHO report, Women and health: today's evidence, tomorrow's agenda, points to evidence that tobacco advertising increasingly targets girls. Data from 151 countries show that about 7% of adolescent girls smoke cigarettes as opposed to 12% of adolescent boys. In some countries, almost as many girls smoke as boys.
World No Tobacco Day 2010 will give overdue recognition to the importance of controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women. As WHO Director-General Margaret Chan wrote in the aforementioned report, "protecting and promoting the health of women is crucial to health and development – not only for the citizens of today but also for those of future generations".
The WHO Framework Convention, which took effect in 2005, expresses alarm at "the increase in smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption by women and young girls worldwide".
Although the World No Tobacco Day 2010 campaign will focus on tobacco marketing to women, it will also take into account the need to protect boys and men from the tobacco companies' tactics. As WHO said in its 2007 report, Gender and tobacco control: a policy brief, "Generic tobacco control measures may not be equally or similarly effective in respect to the two sexes…[A] gendered perspective must be included…It is therefore important that tobacco control policies recognize and take into account gender norms, differences and responses to tobacco in order to…reduce tobacco use and improve the health of men and women worldwide".
In another 2007 report, Sifting the evidence: gender and tobacco control, WHO commented, "Both men and women need full information about the sex-specific effects of tobacco use…equal protection from gendered advertising and marketing and the development of sex-specific tobacco products by transnational tobacco companies…[and] gender-sensitive information about, and protection from, second-hand smoke and occupational exposure to tobacco or nicotine".
The WHO Framework Convention recognizes "the need for gender-specific tobacco control strategies", as well as for the "full participation of women at all levels of [tobacco control] policy-making and implementation [of tobacco control measures]".
On World No Tobacco Day 2010, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to pay particular attention to protecting women from the tobacco companies' attempts to lure them into lifetimes of nicotine dependence. By responding to WHO's call, governments can reduce the toll of fatal and crippling heart attacks, strokes, cancers and respiratory diseases that have become increasingly prevalent among women.
Tobacco use could kill one billion people during this century. Recognizing the importance of reducing tobacco use among women, and acting upon that recognition, would save many lives.
2009 - TOBACCO HEALTH WARNINGS
:: Tobacco-Free Youth interactive website http://www.who.int/tobacco/tobacco_free_youth/home.htmlThe tobacco industry catches you young: learn more about its advertising, promotion and sponsorship tactics and how they are a threat to you.
WHO wants total ban on tobacco advertising
30 MAY 2008 | GENEVA -- WHO today urged governments to protect the world’s 1.8 billion young people by imposing a ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
The WHO's call to action comes on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, 31 May. This year’s campaign focuses on the multi-billion dollar efforts of tobacco companies to attract young people to its addictive products through sophisticated marketing.
Recent studies prove that the more young people are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely they are to start smoking. Despite this, only 5% of the world’s population is covered by comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Tobacco companies, meanwhile, continue targeting young people by falsely associating use of tobacco products with qualities such as glamour, energy and sex appeal.
"In order to survive, the tobacco industry needs to replace those who quit or die with new young consumers," said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. "It does this by creating a complex 'tobacco marketing net' that ensnares millions of young people worldwide, with potentially devastating health consequences."
"A ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship is a powerful tool we can use to protect the world’s youth," the Director-General added.
Since most people start smoking before the age of 18, and almost a quarter of those before the age of 10, tobacco companies market their products wherever youth can be easily accessed – in the movies, on the Internet, in fashion magazines and at music and sports venues. In a WHO study of 13 to 15-year-olds in schools worldwide, more than 55% of students reported seeing advertisements for cigarettes on billboards in the previous month, while 20% owned an item with logo of a cigarette brand on it.
But it is the developing world, home to more than 80% of the world’s youth, which is most aggressively targeted by tobacco companies. Young women and girls are particularly at risk, with tobacco companies seeking to weaken cultural opposition to their products in countries where women have traditionally not used tobacco.
"The tobacco industry employs predatory marketing strategies to get young people hooked to their addictive drug," said Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative. "But comprehensive advertising bans do work, reducing tobacco consumption by up to 16% in countries that have already taken this legislative step."
"Half measures are not enough," added Dr Bettcher. "When one form of advertising is banned, the tobacco industry simply shifts its vast resources to another channel. We urge governments to impose a complete ban to break the tobacco marketing net," he said.
Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is well known that half the people who smoke regularly today – about 650 million people – will eventually be killed by tobacco. Equally alarming is the fact that hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by breathing second-hand tobacco smoke.
Tobacco addiction is a global epidemic that is increasingly ravaging countries and regions that can least afford its toll of disability, disease, lost productivity and death. The tobacco industry continues to put profits before life; its own expansion before the health of future generations; its own economic gain ahead of the sustainable development of struggling countries.
Nowadays, tobacco companies continue to expand with new variants of the "light", "mild" and "low tar" cigarette campaigns so popular in the 20th century. Nowadays, they reassure health concerned smokers by offering with their new products the illusion of safety. They continue to take their old and new customers to more insidious levels of deception by promoting and selling new products disguised under healthier names, fruity flavours or more attractive-looking packaging.
Objective
The purpose of World No Tobacco Day 2006 is to encourage countries and governments to work towards strict regulation of tobacco products. We will do this by raising awareness about the existence of the wide variety of deadly tobacco products. Regulation should also help people get accurate information, remove the disguise and unveil the truth behind tobacco products – traditional, new, and future.
JOIN PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE WORLD ON THE CELEBRATION OF WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2006. START RAISING AWARENESS NOW ABOUT TOBACCO: DEADLY IN ANY FORM OR DISGUISE
The Tobacco Free Initiative proposes that World No Tobacco Day 2005 focus on the role of health professionals on tobacco control.
Health Professionals are in an excellent position that allows them to have a prominent role on tobacco control.
Comprehensive tobacco programmes aimed at controlling the use of tobacco efficiently should consider a mix of measures including legislation and pricing measures, but also prevention -through education, communication, informational campaigns that raise awareness of the effects of tobacco on health- and other demand reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation. Health Professionals can intervene in these ambits. They reach a high percentage of the population. Health Professionals have the opportunity to help people change their behaviour and they can give advice, guidance and answers to questions related to the consequences of tobacco use, they can help patients to stop smoking. Studies have shown that even brief counseling by Health Professionals on the dangers of smoking and the importance of quitting is one of the most cost-effective methods of reducing smoking.
Health Professionals can also be very instrumental with preventive measures, especially when considering the youth. They have the opportunity to promote social norm change, and forewarn children and adolescents of the dangers of tobacco.
We would like health professionals to help us strengthen the position they have on tobacco control, and we would like to tell their patients and everyone else that their doctor, nurse, physician, dentist, pharmacist, etc. have the answers to their questions about tobacco.
The contribution of tobacco to death and disease is well documented. Less attention is given to the ways in which tobacco increases poverty.
Tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide. The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating. In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness. A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of US$ 200 thousand million, a third of this loss being in developing countries.
World No Tobacco Day 2003 focused on the role of the fashion and film world in fostering the worldwide tobacco epidemic and urged them to stop being used as vehicles of death and disease. The world of film and fashion cannot be accused of causing cancer. But they do not have to promote a product that does
WHO called on the entertainment industry, in particular the world of films and fashion, to stop promoting a product that kills every second regular user. In November 2002, WHO was joined by the Smoke Free Films Project, University of California in San Francisco (USA) in its call to the entertainment and fashion industries to ensure that their social responsibility is commensurate with their global influence.
In particular, Hollywood and Bollywood -the Indian films industry in the city of Mumbai - were invited to join the worldwide
movement to rid films of their tobacco-promoting role.
2002 Tobacco Free Sports — Play it Clean
The World No Tobacco Day theme for 2002 was Tobacco Free Sports--Play it Clean! In response to the global appeal for action, WHO and its partners launched a campaign to clean sports of all forms of tobacco — tobacco consumption, and exposure to second-hand smoke, tobacco advertising, promotion and marketing.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), International Olympic Committee (IOC), Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Olympic Aid and other regional and local sports organizations have joined WHO in this campaign for Tobacco Free Sports. Tobacco free events were organized all over the world, including the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games in the U.S. and the 2002 FIFA World Cup in the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Athletes, sports organizations, national and local sports authorities, school and university sports teams, sports media and everyone interested in physical activity are invited to join this campaign for Tobacco Free Sports.
WHO urges people everywhere to take back their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations from the preventable death and disease caused by tobacco.
2001 - Second-hand smoke kills. Let’s clear the air.
Second-hand smoke is a real and significant threat to public health. Supported by two decades of evidence, the scientific community now agrees that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.
Second-hand smoking has been causally associated with a range of life-threatening health effects, including lung cancer and heart disease. For children, the situation is particularly disturbing, as involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke has been identified as a cause of respiratory disease, middle ear disease, asthma attacks, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Tobacco smoke is also an important source of indoor air pollution, contributing to a noxious environment, and causing eye irritation, sore throat, cough, and headache.
The evidence is in, let us act on it.
Clear the air around tobacco industry deception
Tobacco companies have two faces: what they admit in private, and what they deny in public. Despite decades of scientific evidence that second-hand smoke is toxic, and despite confirmation by their own scientists, the tobacco companies have been publicly denying that second-hand smoke causes death and disease. In private though, they has identified second-hand smoke as a crucial battleground, one that could threaten the viability of the industry itself. A secret study commissioned by them in 1978 concluded that:
"What the smoker does to himself may be his business, but what the smoker does to the non-smoker is a different matter...This we see as the most dangerous development yet to the viability of the tobacco industry that has yet occurred." Roper Organization, 1978.
As part of their corporate strategy, tobacco companies have consistently fought regulations and legislation that could protect people from second-hand smoke. They have spent millions of dollars hiring lobbyists, attacking legitimate scientific research, buying scientists, producing bogus studies, and creating controversy about second-hand smoke.
A 1988 memo from a joint meeting of several tobacco companies confirmed that:
"[Philip Morris’ world wide strategy is to] co-ordinate and pay so many scientists on an international basis to keep the environmental tobacco smoke controversy alive."
We know their strategy, let us counter it.
2000 - TOBACCO KILLS - DON'T BE DUPED
One of the primary objectives of the tobacco industry is to frame tobacco use as an individual and behavioural decision. The problem with this casting is that it leaves the tobacco industry’s activities and practices completely out of the equation. It assumes that people make decisions in a state of vacuum, completely uninfluenced by their environment including industry advertising and marketing.
Tobacco advertising and use in the entertainment and sports industry projects images of smokers as fun loving and glamorous and, most insidiously, healthy. Attractive images and people suggest that smoking is a powerful tool for enhancing self-image. The illusion helps the tobacco industry sell a product that kills.
"The tobacco companies spend $6 billion a year in the United States alone, enticing youth to smoke. They make you believe that if you smoke, you’re going to be sexy, attractive, successful, accepted by your peers, rocking, and macho, cool and sassy. They project this image in every media — from day — time movies to night-time movies, magazines and even cartoon characters," says former "Winston" man turned tobacco control activist Allan Landers.
There is evidence to show that people’s decision to smoke is enhanced by advertising and promotion of tobacco especially in the entertainment, sports and music industry. The Tobacco Industry understands this well and actively markets tobacco in many parts of the world through a strategic and insidious mix of pricing, placement and promotion. Sponsorship and product placement in films and sports are key strategies used by the Tobacco industry to circumvent advertising restrictions, where they have been enacted. Tobacco control work cannot and need not hope to match the advertising and promotional work of the tobacco industry. With science, justice, public health and economics on its side, tobacco control work can stay ahead on the information curve and seize the public health initiative on this issue.
Standing up to the culture vultures
World No Tobacco Day 2000 (WNTD 2000) aims to raise awareness of and counter these global marketing practices of the tobacco industry which lure customers, especially young people, through sponsorship, advertising and glamourisation of tobacco in films, music, art and sports.
It will serve as a catalyst to reframe the tobacco debate by:
- Disseminating information about the untruthful, deceptive and manipulative marketing practices of the tobacco industry, as revealed in their own "secret" documents;
- Sharing global and national tobacco control experience in countering this deception; and
- Creating a powerful international alliance of artists, sports and media people endorsing tobacco control issues.
The " Insider": Major International Opportunity for Entertainment Focus on Tobacco
A Walt Disney film called "The Insider " starring Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer has been released in the US on November 5th , 1999. It is the story of Dr.Wigand , former vice-president, (R&D), Brown and Williamson. Dr.Wigand blew the whistle on the tobacco industry’s nicotine manipulation. The film recounts his struggle and the tobacco industry’s tactics to silence him and his work. Dr.Wigand will be present at TFI’s media initiative launch in California.
Past Themes
- 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 windows 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
- 1989 Women and tobacco: the female smoker: at added risk
- 1988 Tobacco or Health: choose health