Health and policy experts have called on the United Nations to lead a “turbo-charged” effort against the sale and consumption of tobacco.
One billion deaths from smoking and other forms of tobacco use are expected by the end of this century if efforts to tackle tobacco use are not accelerated.
“A world where tobacco is out of sight, out of mind, and out of fashion – yet not prohibited – is achievable in less than three decades from now, but only with full commitment from governments, international agencies, such as UN and WHO, and civil society,” said professor Robert Beaglehole from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
A decade on from WHO’s landmark introduction of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), only 15 percent of the world’s population have adequate access to smoking cessation programmes.