Effective Tobacco Control Measures

Quit Smoking

Tobacco Facts

• Tobacco kills 5 million people every year, including 1 million in the Americas
• Tobacco is the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer
• Half of all long-term smokers will die from a tobacco-caused disease
• Tobacco costs the global economy US$200 billion every year

What's new

• The first session of the FCTC Conference of the Parties will take place on 6-17 February 2006. More information here
  
• November 8 is the last day to ratify the WHO FCTC in order to participate in the first session of the Conference of the Parties.
  
  

Tobacco in the news

Uruguay approves graphic warnings for cigarettes packages
The Ministry of Public Health of Uruguay announced that in March 2006 pictograms will be incorporated into tobacco packages, with messages about quitting smoking and about seconhand smoke. A spokesman for the ministry explained that pictograms will cover 50% of both principal sides of the package. Each side will carry a different pictogram.

Text of the warning: Humanicide More than 4000 chemical substances, of which 50 cause cancer. Your air is mine too. Respect it.

Hot materials		Tobacco Control team receives PAHO's       Best Team of the Year Award in 2005                   Director Mirta Roses with the tobacco control       team in Washington, DC. The award also       includes all tobacco control staff at PAHO       country offices.
Smoker's Body	FCTC text
Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the economics of tobacco control	Profits Over People: Tobacco industry activities in Latin American and the Caribbean
Past, Current and Future Trends in Tobacco Use	World Bank toolkits for economic research