04/06/2007
The World Health Organization urged on 31st May all countries to declare all enclosed workplaces and public buildings as smoke-free zones and to enforce a ban on smoking in public places. The UN agency's recommendations were prompted by reports by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the U.S. Surgeon General and the California Environmental Protection Agency.

The WHO lists tobacco at number one among causes of preventable death, responsible for 5.4 million deaths or one in every ten adult deaths. By 2030, the death toll from tobacco usage could rise to 8.3 million deaths, the agency estimates. Passive smoking is blamed for a significant percentage of cardiovascular diseases and respiratory disorders resulting in premature deaths. In the US, it accounts for about 3,000 deaths due to lung cancer, among non-smokers, every year.

More significantly, about 700 million children – almost half the world's child population are exposed to passive smoking and the resulting health hazards, especially in their homes, the WHO points out.

Ireland, France, Portugal, Bermuda, Spain and Uruguay are among the nations that have already banned smoking in public places; and now other countries must also “take this immediate and important step to protect the health of all” the agency's Director-General Margaret Chan said.

Dr Armando Peruga, chief of the agency's anti-tobacco campaign, clarified that the recommendation “is not about shaming the smoker. This is not even about banning smoking. This is about society taking decisions about where to smoke and where not to smoke.”

The US, Australia and Canada have also announced a similar ban but only in some parts of the countries. Another voluntary organization - the International Union against Cancer (IUC) estimates that the current ban in all these countries would effectively protect about 1,230 million people by June end; “unfortunately, that is less than 4 percent of the world population” an IUC spokesman said.