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 Washington,
D.C., 8 February 2012 (PAHO/WHO) — A growing
number of countries in the Americas are adopting effective measures to reduce
consumption of tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke. But a new report from
the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)
recommends further measures, particularly increases in tobacco taxes and bans on
tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.
The new Tobacco Control Report for the Region of the Americas
summarizes progress in countries’ implementation of the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first international public health treaty,
which requires States Parties to apply a series of policies and measures aimed
at reducing tobacco consumption and protecting people from secondhand smoke. The
treaty has been in force since 2005.
Of 35 countries in the Americas, 29 have ratified the FCTC, most
recently, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Kitts and Nevis. Argentina,
Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, and the United States have only signed the treaty,
implying they will make good-faith efforts to ratify it and, in the meantime,
will not undermine its objectives. The Dominican Republic is the only country in
the hemisphere that has neither signed nor ratified the
FCTC.
“The wide endorsement of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control in our Region shows that there is clear political will for making
tobacco control more comprehensive and more successful,” PAHO Director Dr. Mirta
Roses says in the report.
WHO has proposed six main areas of action for implementing the FCTC
at the country level:
- Require large, graphic
health warnings on tobacco packaging
- Monitor consumption of tobacco
products
- Protect people from tobacco
smoke
- Offer help to smokers who
want to quit
- Enforce bans on tobacco
advertising, promotion, and sponsorship
- Raise taxes on tobacco
products.
The report examines both achievements and challenges in the
implementation of these measures in the countries of the Americas. Highlights in the report
include:
- Brazil, Colombia, Panama,
and Uruguay are the countries that have advanced the most in implementing
tobacco control measures recommended by WHO.
- At least 24 countries still
allow tobacco advertising on domestic television and radio broadcasts and in
national newspapers. Colombia and Panama are the only countries that have and
enforce bans on such advertising. The FCTC requires States Parties to bans such
advertising within five years of the treaty’s entrance into force in a
country.
- Argentina and Chile are the
only countries that tax tobacco products at 75 percent or more of the retail
price (nevertheless, tobacco prices in Argentina are still among the lowest in
the Americas). Few countries in the Region have raised tobacco taxes
incrementally and continually, as required by the
FCTC.
- A number of Latin American
and Caribbean countries approved new 100 percent smoke-free laws in 2010 and
2011. Last year, Brazil became the world’s largest country to have such laws.
Currently, 13 countries in the Americas are “100 percent smoke-free,” meaning
they have local or national laws covering at least 90 percent of the population
that ban smoking in all closed public spaces and workplaces (with no
exceptions).
- Sixteen countries (six of
them starting in 2010 or 2011) now comply with WHO’s three key recommendations
on health warnings, i.e., that they take up at least 50 percent of the principal
display area on tobacco packaging (the exception is Colombia, where they take up
30 percent), they include graphic warnings, and they do not allow misleading or
deceptive phrases such as “low-tar,” “light,” or “mild.” The FCTC requires
compliance with its articles on health warnings within three years of its
entrance into force in a given country.
- Very few countries in the
Americas provide strong support for smoking cessation as recommended by the
FCTC, such as national telephone “quit lines,” nicotine replacement therapy, and
other support services that are cost-covered and easily
accessible.
In
addition, the report presents data on smoking rates among adults and youths in
different countries. Rates in South America point to a closing of the gender
gap: in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, smoking rates are now higher among
teenage girls than teenage boys.
Tobacco kills
nearly 6 million people each year around the globe, as a result of direct
consumption or exposure to secondhand smoke. At least 1 million of these deaths
occur in the Americas. If current trends continue, the number of tobacco deaths
worldwide is projected to climb to 7.5 million annually by 2020. Tobacco use is
the single most important risk factor for chronic noncommunicable diseases,
which are the leading cause of death worldwide. Tobacco is also the only legal
product that kills between a third and half of consumers who use it exactly as
intended by the manufacturer.
“Tobacco use is the major contributor to heart attacks, strokes,
cancers, and other chronic diseases that are now epidemic in our countries,”
PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses says in the report. “More and more countries
recognize that tobacco control is a life-and-death matter.”
PAHO was
established in 1902 and works with all the countries of the Americas to improve
the health and quality of life of the people of the Americas. It also serves as
the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization
(WHO).
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Contacts:
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Eberwine-Villagran Tel. Tel. +1 202 974 3122, Mobile +1 202 316 5469,
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Mey-Schmidt +1 202 974 3036, Mobile +1 202 251 2646,
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