Message on World No Tobacco Day from UN Secretary General
Thursday, May 31st, 2012 This year’s World No Tobacco Day comes
at a time when the tobacco industry is taking ever more
aggressive steps to undermine efforts to reduce the global
menace of tobacco. While governments and the international
health community try to implement effective measures to contain
tobacco use and protect the health of people, their efforts are
being aggressively opposed by an industry whose products kill
people. Tobacco kills by causing cancer, heart disease and
respiratory diseases. It is one of the leading preventable risk
factors for non-communicable diseases. Every year, about 5
million people die because they use tobacco. Another 600,000
people die from exposure to second-hand smoke. Tobacco takes a
pervasive, heavy toll. It hinders development and worsens
poverty. Tobacco and poverty create a vicious circle since it is
the poor who smoke most and bear the brunt of the economic and
disease burden of tobacco use. Money spent on