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UN Secretary Generalâ€™s message on World No Tobacco Day

31 May 2010 14:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementieva â€“ APA. â€œTobacco 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 livesâ€, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his message on World No Tobacco Day, APA reports. World No Tobacco Day is one of many other world health awareness days throughout the year organized by the WHO. The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2010 is â€œGender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to womenâ€ drawing particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing towards women and girls.

â€œWorld 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 â€“ not only for the citizens of today but also for those of future generationsâ€. Women comprise about 20% of the world’s more than 1 billion smokers. However, the epidemic of tobacco use among women is increasing in some countries. 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. 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 womenâ€, said the UN Secretary General.

In 1987, the World Health Assembly of the WHO passed Resolution, calling for April 7, 1988 to be "a world no-smoking day" and called for. April 7, 1988 was the 40th anniversary of the WHO. The objective of the day was to urge tobacco users worldwide to abstain from using tobacco products for 24 hours, an action they hoped would provide assistance for those trying to quit. Since 1988, World No Day has been celebrated on the 31st of May annually. World No Tobacco Day is a worldwide opportunity to focus on a different tobacco-related theme.