Tobacco – a threat to development

WHO is calling on countries to prioritize and accelerate tobacco control efforts as part of their responses to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Every year, on 31 May, WHO and partners mark World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), highlighting the health and additional risks associated with tobacco use, and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.

 

The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2017 is "Tobacco – a threat to development." It will demonstrate the threats that the tobacco industry poses to the sustainable development of all countries, including the health and economic well-being of their citizens. And it will propose measures that governments and the public should take to promote health and development by confronting the global tobacco crisis. All countries benefit from successfully controlling the tobacco epidemic, above all by protecting their citizens from the harms of tobacco use and reducing its economic toll on national economies. The aim of the Sustainable Development Agenda, and its global goals, is to ensure that "no one is left behind."

 

More than 7 million deaths from tobacco use every year, a figure that is predicted to grow to more than 8 million a year by 2030 without intensified action. Tobacco use is a threat to any person, regardless of gender, age, race, cultural or educational background. It brings suffering, disease, and death, impoverishing families and national economies. Tobacco control has been enshrined in the Sustainable Development Agenda. It is seen as one of the most effective means to help achieve SDG target. It is not only governments who can step up tobacco control efforts: people can contribute on an individual level to making a sustainable, tobacco-free world. People can commit to never take up tobacco products. Those who do use tobacco can quit the habit, or seek help in doing so, which will in turn protect their health as well as people exposed to second-hand smoke, including children, other family members and friends. Money not spent on tobacco can be, in turn, used for other essential uses, including the purchase of healthy food, healthcare and education.

 

WHO demonstrate that tobacco use costs national economies enormously through increased health-care costs and decreased productivity. It worsens health inequalities and exacerbates poverty, as the poorest people spend less on essentials such as food, education and health care. Some 80% of premature deaths from tobacco occur in low- or middle-income countries, which face increased challenges to achieving their development goals. Tobacco growing requires large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, which can be toxic and pollute water supplies. Each year, tobacco growing uses 4.3 million hectares of land, resulting in global deforestation between 2% and 4%. Tobacco manufacturing also produces over 2 million tonnes of solid waste. Moreover, tobacco use causes premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancers chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and diabetes.

 

A report from WHO in March 2017 indicated that 570,000 children under 5 years die from respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, attributable to indoor and outdoor air pollution, and second-hand smoke every year. Tobacco smoke harms the health of people silently and it is an invisible killer to children’s health. It is important to take the harms of tobacco smoke to children seriously and to protect them from it.

 

There are 27,000 deaths from tobacco use every year in Taiwan and 50% of them are attributable to cancer. Diseases caused by tobacco use cost 144.1 billion dollars that account for 1.06% of GDP. It is obviously to realize the impact of tobacco use to the public and the country.

 

Tobacco control can break the cycle of poverty, contribute to ending hunger, promote sustainable agriculture and economic growth, and combat climate change. Enforcing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and reducing tobacco consumption can help achieve SDG target. Health Promotion Administration actively cooperates with the government, NGOs, the industry and the public to promote tobacco control in order to reduce number of smokers and prevent people from second-hand smoke. Let us say “No” to tobacco and put an end to tobacco threat, bringing our next generation a healthier future
1.World Health Organization. (2017, May 31). World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.who.int/campaigns/no-tobacco-day/2017/event/en/
2.World Health Organization. (n. d. ). The cost of a polluted environment: 1.7 million child deaths a year, says WHO. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/pollution-child-death/en/
3.World Health Organization. (n. d.). An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/deaths-attributable-to-unhealthy-environments/en/