World Lung Foundation Urges Swift Policy Action During Tobacco Free Awareness Week
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Contact: Jorge Alday, Public Relations Manager
(New York) – During Tobacco‐Free Awareness Week, January 25 to 31, 2009, World Lung Foundation urges federal and state policy makers to recognize the disastrous health consequences of tobacco use and to take much overdue action to protect the public.
First, Congress should ratify the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),
an
international treaty that obligates
governments to take measures that protect
citizens from
tobacco use. The United States lags
behind more than 180 countries in ratifying
FCTC despite the
fact that more than 400,000 Americans
die every year from their own cigarette
smoking.
Second, Congress and the new
administration should implement the policy
interventions
articulated in the World Health
Organization's MPOWER report. The report
provides a roadmap for
governments to effectively implement
the FCTC and to make such actions sustainable.
The six
critical interventions outlined in the
MPOWER Report are:
- Monitoring the epidemic and prevention policies
- Protecting people from secondhand smoke
- Offering help to quit tobacco use
- Warning about the dangers of tobacco
- Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising and promotion
- Raising taxes and prices.
"For years the United States has shamefully neglected addressing the most preventable health crisis of our time," said Peter Baldini, Executive Director, World Lung Foundation. "During this year's Tobacco‐Free Awareness Week, we should not have to focus on making it known that tobacco kills. We should focus on the fact that it is possible to become tobacco‐free. The policies are now well documented and so straightforward. It is inexcusable to take no action."
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About
World Lung Foundation
World Lung Foundation was established
in response to the global epidemic of lung
disease, which kills 10
million people each year. The
organization improves global lung health by
improving local capacity to
conduct research, develop public policy
and deliver public health education. The
organization's areas of
emphasis are tobacco control,
tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, asthma, and child lung
health. For more
information, please visit worldlungfoundation.org
For more information, please contact
Jorge Alday, World Lung Foundation at +1 (212)
639 0070 or
jalday@worldlungfoundation.org.