On 31 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partner organizations will observe World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.
For World No Tobacco Day 2014, the WHO is calling on countries to raise taxes on tobacco
Why raise taxes on tobacco?
– The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke;
– Unless we act, the epidemic will kill more than 8 million people every year by 2030. More than 80% of these preventable deaths will be among people living in low-and middle-income countries;
– WHO calculates that if all countries increased taxes on cigarette packs by 50%, there would be 49 million fewer smokers (38 million fewer adult smokers and 11 million fewer young future smokers) and this would avert 11 million deaths from smoking);
For more information please read the official brochure from the WHO available here.
Do your part in the Campaign against tobacco consumption:
Help individuals and civil society organizations encourage their governments to increase taxes on tobacco to levels that reduce consumption by spreading the word about this observance day on social media:
– Post the poster (available here) on your social media account (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc…); AND
– Post the informational video (available here) on your social media account (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc…); AND
– Share the link to this WHO Campaign available here.
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