World No Tobacco Day is May 31
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News from Lake County Health Department
LAKE COUNTY — World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on May 31 to encourage cessation from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe. Because tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, the World Health Organization created this day of action in 1987. This year, globally, more than 6 million people will die from heart attack, stroke, cancer, lung disease, or other illnesses related to tobacco use. An additional 600,000 people – more than a quarter of them children – will die from exposure to secondhand smoke.
WNTD is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by WHO, along with others that target a particular health issue.
Each year, a different theme is chosen by the WHO to focus attention on a specific aspect of tobacco control efforts. This year, the WHO is calling on countries to work together to end the illicit trade of tobacco products. It is estimated that one in every 10 cigarettes consumed globally is from illicit trade. These illegal markets allow cigarettes to be sold at very low prices, often to children under the age of 18. When cigarette taxes are avoided, so are the funds that would normally be used in tobacco control programs.
In accordance with this year’s theme, the 2015 purpose is to:
— Alert the public of the harm tobacco can cause, especially to our youth due to its accessibility and affordability as illicit tobacco can cost considerably less than tobacco that is following tax legislation.
— Reveal how the illicit tobacco trade undermines the benefits of health care programs, other policies in tobacco control, and as well as the tax and price of tobacco.
— Show how the tobacco industry has played a role in the illicit trading of tobacco.
— Inform the public how it financially supports criminal groups such as drug dealers and terrorists.
The illicit tobacco trade, which includes smuggling, bootlegging and related tax evasion, has the ability to hook young people into tobacco experimentation and use because they are more affordable. Because there is little enforcement of this illegal trade, and the penalties for smuggling tobacco are lenient, it makes smuggling tobacco products a low-risk crime. It has been shown that cigarette smuggling profits have financed terrorism around the world, according to the World Health Organization, WHO Campaigns.
The contraband tobacco trade is one of the most complex tobacco control issues because is intertwined with many political, legal and policy concerns. To combat the illicit tobacco trade, state, local and tribal governments and other health organizations need to coordinate at many levels to support policies that support anti-smuggling efforts and increase enforcement. Of the more than six million that die every year from tobacco use, more than 80 percent of these preventable deaths will be among people living in low and middle income countries. Overall, illicit tobacco trade strengthens corruption and weakens good governance.
