31 May: World No-Tobacco Day

World No-Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year across the world on 31 May.
This day highlights the health risks associated with consumption all forms of tobacco and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.
WNTD 2015, calls on countries to work together to end the illicit trade of tobacco products which is a major global concern including for health, legal and economic, governance and corruption.
Goals of the WNTD 2015 campaign

• Raise awareness on the harm to people’s health caused by the illicit trade in tobacco products.
• Promote: Health care gains and programmes, tobacco control policies like increased tax and prices, pictorial health warnings and other measures to curb illicit trade in tobacco products.
• Demonstrate: How the tobacco industry has been involved in the illicit trade of tobacco products.
• Highlight: How the illicit trade of tobacco products finances criminal groups for organised crime activities including drugs, human and arms trafficking as well as terrorism.
• Ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products by all Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to curb illicit trade.

Each year, global tobacco epidemic kills nearly around 6 million people of which more than 6 lakh are non-smokers who die from breathing second-hand smoke.
Background

• In 1988, WHO’s World Health Assembly had passed a resolution calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on May 31.
• Since then, the WHO has supported World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) every year, linking each year to a different tobacco-related theme.
• WNTD is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the WHO.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2015