The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon called for more action on Tuesday to reduce deaths related to consumption tobacco, and encouraged the fight against other non-contagious diseases during the World No Tobacco Day.
"Controlling tobacco can reduce several chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease," said Ban, who stated that smoking "killed approximately 100 million people in the twentieth century and may reach billion this century if steps are not taken ".
Smoking is the second leading cause of death behind the worldwide hypertension, and six million people could die this year due to exposure to smoke, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ban added that since the promotion of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in 2003, which he described as "the best weapon to combat the consumption," more than 170 countries have acceded to it.
Some measurements that includes this agreement are to reduce demand for tobacco taxes and higher prices, establish impediments to tobacco advertisements and prevent the sale of this product to minors.
"Countries use the recommendations of the treaty to protect their citizens, and make it clear that tobacco impoverishes us, both in terms of health and in economic terms, "said Ban, who stated that" we still have much to do. "
Thus, the UN secretary general urged compliance of treaty obligations and urged "few countries" that have not yet joined to do so, with the goal of "holding together the tobacco epidemic and the problems related to it," he said.
Dr Adriana Blanco Advisor of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), an entity belonging to the WHO, said in a statement the implementation of the Framework Convention represented an important contribution.
"We're definitely better than before, because we know what we must do, since there are more than 170 countries committed to respect it. After all, everything contained in the agreement is effective for reducing mortality related to smoking," said .
Source: Earth
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