PHA-Exchange> OFFICIALS GATHER IN GENEVA TO STRENGTHEN UN TREATY ON TOBACCO CONTROL

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 from Vern Weitzel <vern.weitzel at undp.org> -----

Subject: OFFICIALS GATHER IN GENEVA TO STRENGTHEN UN TREATY ON TOBACCO CONTROL

OFFICIALS GATHER IN GENEVA TO STRENGTHEN UN TREATY ON TOBACCO CONTROL
New York, Feb  6 2006  2:00PM
Officials from more than 110 nations gathered in Geneva today for a two-week 
conference meant to 
propel a United Nations global treaty closer toward its ultimate goal of 
saving lives as it curbs 
tobacco use among the world’s 1.3 billion smokers.

Representing three-quarters of the world’s population, the officials are 
meeting to decide on 
detailed measures that can further strengthen the World Health Organization 
Framework Convention on 
Tobacco Control 
(<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr07/en/index.html">WHO 
FTC). 
This is the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties, the governing body 
of the Treaty since 
it entered into force nearly one year ago.
Many of the countries joining this first COP session have already implemented 
some of the Treaty’s 
concrete measures. Ireland, Norway and Spain, for example, recently banned 
smoking in indoor public 
places while India has comprehensive tobacco advertising bans. Brazil, Canada, 
Thailand and 
Singapore now print graphic warnings on cigarette packages.
"This group has already changed history," said Dr. Lee Jong-wook, WHO Director-
General 
<"http://www.who.int/dg/lee/speeches/2006/conference_of_the_parties/en/index.ht
ml">said at the 
session. "The convention is something that we all committed to. Its provisions 
are bold. They are 
based on knowledge of what is effective. We will make it work."
As the second major cause of death in the world, tobacco now responsible for 
about 5 million deaths 
annually, according to WHO, which estimates that 84 per cent of the world’s 
1.3 billion smokers live 
in developing and transitional economy countries.

The WHO Tobacco Free Initiative believes the most cost-effective strategies to 
curb tobacco 
consumption are population-wide public policies, like tobacco advertising 
bans, tobacco tax and 
price increases, smoke-free environments in all public and workplaces, and 
graphic health messages 
on tobacco packaging.
All of these measures are required under the Treaty’s provisions, including 
some with deadlines. For 
example, from the Treaty's entry into force, countries have three years to 
enforce health warnings 
on tobacco products and five years to implement comprehensive bans on tobacco 
advertising, promotion 
and sponsorship.
  “This is a crucial time for people suffering the consequences of tobacco 
use,” said Dr. Yumiko 
Mochizuki-Kobayashi, Director of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative. “Tobacco 
is still the top 
preventable cause of death. The goal is to see it fall from that position in 
our lifetime. With 
continued commitment from Member States, we will achieve that goal."
In another development on the health front, WHO and The Foundation for 
Innovative New Diagnostics, 
with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced today in 
Geneva a joint project 
aimed at developing new diagnostic tests for human African trypanosomiasis, 
also known as sleeping 
sickness.
A major public health threat in sub-Saharan Africa, African sleeping sickness 
spreads among people 
bitten by the tsetse fly and is fatal unless treated. Because early-stage 
infection produces few 
symptoms, it is thought that only 10 per cent of patients with the disease are 
accurately diagnosed.


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