WORLD HEART FEDERATION MARKS WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2006

WORLD HEART FEDERATION MARKS WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2006

 

Geneva, 30 May 2006 – The World Heart Federation joins the global health community in
observing 31 May as World No Tobacco Day and encourages its members to continue working for
full implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Tobacco consumption is a major contributor to the world’s epidemic of cardiovascular disease.
Indeed, it accounts for 20% of cardiovascular deaths, of which there were 17.5 million in 2005.
All told, it killed an estimated 5 million people in 2005 and an estimated 4 million people in 2004,
according to the World Health Organization. If present consumption patterns continue, it will kill
nearly 10 million people in 2020.

The higher burden of death and disease is rapidly shifting to low- and middle-income countries,
according to a new report by the World Health Organization, Tobacco: deadly in any form or
disguise, the title of which is also the theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day. As consumption
has declined in high-income countries, the tobacco industry has concentrated on the newer
potential markets.

Both the theme and the title are meant to highlight the various product differentiations and
marketing ploys that the industry uses to hook consumers. Regardless of whether the tobacco
product comes as a cigarette, a cigar or a sachet of “gutkha,”1 whether it is advertised as “mild”
or “light,” whether it is organic or not, self-rolled or not, filtered or not, fruit-flavored or not, the
danger to human health is great.

“As the report states, ‘All tobacco products are harmful and addictive and all can cause disease
and death,’” said World Heart Federation Chief Executive Officer Janet Voûte. “People shouldn’t
allow themselves to be deceived by the tobacco industry’s false insinuations of safety. The
industry’s attempts to keep and increase market share make it more imperative than ever that all
countries implement strong tobacco control measures as recommended in the Framework
Convention.”

The Framework Convention entered into force in February 2005. Of the 168 countries that have
signed it, 128 have ratified. Its objective, as described in Article 3, is “to protect present and
future generations from the devastating health, social and environmental and economic
consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke…”

For more information about World No Tobacco Day visit: www.wntd.com.
For more information about the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control visit:
http://www.who.int/tobacco/framework/en/
To read or download Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise visit:
http://www.who.int/tobacco/resources/publications/wntd/2006/en/index.html
To read a World Heart Federation synopsis of the WHO report, visit:
http://www.worldheart.org/pdf/press.synopsis.tobacco.may06.pdf
1 Guthka is a commercially manufactured oral smokeless tobacco common in India and South-East Asia.
To read a World Heart Federation fact sheet about tobacco, heart disease and stroke, visit:
http://www.worldheart.org/pdf/press.factsheets.tobacco.pdf

About the World Heart Federation

The World Heart Federation, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, is
committed to helping the global population achieve a longer and better life through prevention and
control of heart disease and stroke, with a particular focus on low and middle-income countries. It
comprises 189 member societies of cardiology and heart foundations from over 100 countries covering
the regions of Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Africa. For further information visit: www.worldheart.org.

Contact:
World Heart Federation
Telephone: +41 22 807 0320
E-mail: timothy.oleary(at)worldheart.org