WHO calls for a series of measures to reduce tobacco-related fatalities.
By Raif Karerat
Citing concerns over the “alarmingly high” tobacco consumption in the region, eleven South Asian countries including India pledged Monday to accelerate “hard-hitting” measures to reduce its use.
The “Dili Declaration” — named after the capital of Timor-Leste, where it was presented — also urged governments and UN agencies to accelerate tobacco control in the region which accounts for over one-third of the world’s tobacco use.
The accord was signed at the 68th Regional Committee Meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Region, reported the press trust of India.
WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
“We need to enforce stringent policies and measures to help people reduce and eventually quit tobacco, to prevent the youth and children from taking to tobacco use and to protect people from second-hand tobacco smoke,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region, during the adoption of the declaration.
“Countries must equally tax all tobacco products, ban tobacco advertisements, enforce pictorial warning on cigarette packs and implement [bans] on public smoking,” Singh continued.
The World Health Organization said that tobacco kills 1.3 million people in the region every year which includes people who have never used tobacco themselves but were exposed to second-hand and third-hand tobacco effects, reported Outlook India.
The region is home to 25 per cent of the world’s smokers and 90 per cent of the world’s smokeless tobacco users – about 246 million and 290 million people respectively.
“In 2012 an estimated 62 per cent deaths in the region were attributed to non-communicable diseases – of these 48 percent were below 70 years. We know that tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths,” Singh said during her address on Monday.