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Čtvrtek, 20.Únor 2003 WHO 

Užívání tabáku dosáhlo rozměrů epidemie, která má větší rozsah než jakákoliv infekční nemoc. Kouření tabáku si každý rok vyžádá více obětí na životech než AIDS a tuberkulosa dohromady. Tabáková epidemie neušetřila jedinou zemi světa a jako globální zdravotní krize vyžaduje koordinovanou odpověď. V Ženevě bylo 17. února zahájeno závěrečné kolo jednání o Rámcové dohodě o kontrole tabáku. Cílem dohody je omezit používání tabáku na celém světě a snížit počet úmrtí, způsobených používáním tabáku. Původní text WHO následuje.

Why the world needs global tobacco control
By Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General, World Health Organization

The world faces many health challenges today, but one stands out as particularly appalling because it is so unnecessary: the tobacco epidemic. As a problem that crosses borders through marketing and trade, leaving no one untouched, its solution must lie in a global agreement on tobacco control.

Tobacco addiction has become a public health threat on a scale larger than any single infectious disease, fuelling an epidemic that causes more deaths every year than HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis put together. About 500 million people alive today will die because of tobacco – at a current rate of 4.9 million per year, which will double by 2020 if we do nothing to stop it.

The tobacco epidemic has not spared a single country and, as with other global health crises, it needs a coordinated response. Unlike epidemics of communicable diseases, however, tobacco addiction is a communicated disease. Because it has been created and maintained by people – some of whom profit a great deal as a result – slowing the tobacco epidemic will also require a formal commitment from every nation to a comprehensive and long-term agreement on issues ranging from advertising to illicit trade.

On February 17th, the final round of negotiations for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control begins in Geneva. When in force, the convention will provide a unique public health instrument to reduce tobacco use and prevent tobacco-related illness and death around the world.

Eastern Europe will benefit significantly from this agreement. The region not only has the highest smoking rates in Europe but also some of the highest in the world. Smoking kills half of all lifetime users, and more than 25 per cent of men and women between the ages of 35 and 69 in Eastern Europe will die from causes related to tobacco use, such as cancer, emphysema, heart disease or stroke.

While most smokers in Eastern Europe are men, more and more women and adolescent girls are picking up the habit. A recent survey sponsored by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicates that 30 per cent of Latvian girls between the ages of 13 and 15 consider themselves to be regular smokers, up significantly from 12 per cent in 1990. Smoking in adolescents is a particular concern because half of all young people that continue to smoke will die as a result. As well, children who are exposed to cigarette smoke – 67 per cent of children in Poland – have an increased risk of developing a wide range of health problems, including pneumonia, bronchitis, worsening asthma, and middle-ear disease.

Tobacco-use costs society in terms of health care and social welfare, reduced productivity, environmental damage, loss of land that could be used to grow food, and destruction due to careless smoking. Cigarettes are also an expensive habit for individuals and families, who spend money that could otherwise be used for food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. In the Republic of Moldova, a pack of 20 imported cigarettes costs more than half the average daily income. Aside from the cost of cigarettes themselves, families suffer a further loss of income due to health care costs and work time lost during illness. Ultimately, smoking kills a quarter of all smokers during their working years, causing many families to lose their primary sources of income.

Tobacco is a killer, but we know how to reduce its devastation. Through a combination of raised cigarette taxes, bans on tobacco advertising and promotion, limited smoking in public places and workplaces, increased access to effective stop-smoking programmes, strong anti-tobacco advertising and a crack-down on smuggling, we can save millions of lives and improve public health.

In order for this to happen, however, the world’s nations must cooperate to create comparably tight domestic policies and tackle cross-border issues such as advertising and trade. An international agreement would provide the necessary tools, support, targets and timeframes.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first-ever international health treaty under the auspices of the World Health Organization, has finally put such an agreement within reach. The Convention addresses treatment and prevention, advertising and promotion, smuggling, product regulation and trade. By February 28th, Member States are expected to reach consensus on a text for adoption at the World Health Assembly in May.

It is critical that all governments enter the final negotiations prepared to find common ground and compromise on the outstanding issues so that agreement can be reached. Then we can all breathe a little easier.
Source: WHO Liaison Office U.N.House, Prague


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