Tobacco Control Vital to Health

Tobacco Control Vital to Health

Thursday 30 May 2013, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC),
Noumea, New Caledonia -

Every year, tobacco kills nearly six million people. It remains the
largest preventable cause of death on the planet.

Tobacco use contributes immensely to the nearly 80% of deaths due to
non-communicable diseases in the Pacific region, including heart disease
and cancer.

Yet, while the Pacific region leads the world in signing up to a global
initiative to protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco, there
is still a long way to go to ensure polices are put in place and
enforced.

All eligible Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) have
ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control, a key tool in the fight against tobacco.

However, more than half the population in Tokelau, Kiribati, Nauru and
Wallis and Futuna smoke daily as do over one third of people in the Cook
Islands, Samoa and Solomon Islands.

'It is crucial that tobacco laws are updated regularly and that PICTs
ensure they are enforced at the country level,' says SPC's Tobacco and
Alcohol Adviser Ms Jeanie McKenzie.

Effective enforcement involves understanding what constitutes an offence
under national law and communicating this information to the community,
monitoring compliance and developing procedures to prepare cases of
infringement for prosecution.

'Common offences include selling tobacco to minors, allowing smoking in
indoor areas or displaying tobacco advertising in shops,' says Ms
McKenzie.

SPC's Public Health Division supports PICTs in developing their tobacco
control legislation and enforcement mechanisms - assistance that is
directly helping Ministries of Health control tobacco in their
countries.

'SPC was proud to support Cook Islands with the development of its
National Tobacco Action Plan recently and congratulates Cooks Islands on
the progress made to date,' says Ms McKenzie.

Since last year's enforcement training in Cook Islands, health
inspectors have been visiting tobacco retailers to monitor compliance
and have successfully completed a Controlled Purchase Operation. This
exercise tests whether or not tobacco is being sold to minors. No
retailers were found to be selling tobacco to minors during the most
recent exercise.

On this World No Tobacco Day, 31 May, SPC encourages all Pacific
Islanders to quit smoking and reduce their exposure to second-hand
tobacco smoke.

ENDS

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