World no tobacco day

Smoking kills 6 million people every year around the world, and more than half a million non-smokers get affected from second hand smoke. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death. In fact, tobacco kills more people every year that alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. Unless more people quit smoking, this deadly habit could kill up to one billion people in the 21st century.

The World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed worldwide every year on May 31st to help smokers abstain from consuming tobacco for at least 24 hours, smokers are also encouraged to give up the habit for life.

WHO is persuading more countries to sign a global treaty to ensure public protection from smoking. The treaty, 'The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control' (FCTC) is known as the world's primary tobacco cessation instrument, and is the focus for the theme this year. The treaty was drafted 6 years ago and 172 countries have signed it, though 20 percent have done nothing to implement it's recommendations. In addition, major countries such as the U.S. and Indonesia have not even signed it.

For countries that have signed the treaty, the WHO FCTC places certain requests including obligations to:

- Protect public health policies from commercial and other interests of the tobacco industry
- Protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke
- Warn people about the dangers of tobacco
- Regulate the packaging and labeling of tobacco products
- Offer people help to end their addiction to tobacco
- Ban cigarette sale to and by minors
- Support economically viable alternatives to tobacco growing

The WNTD campaign will focus on fully implementing the treaty to protect present and future generations from the consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure.

If more people give up smoking this will be a major victory for health services worldwide. It will help prevent millions of unnecessary deaths and save a huge amount in health care costs. Not to mention, the next generation will be healthier.