PAHO NEWS: Press Releases, Job Vacancies, and Other
Information from the Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO) via the Canadian Society for International Health
(CSIH) [log in to unmask]; Technical Representative in
Canada for PAHO
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World No Tobacco Day, May 31, 1998: Allowing our
children to grow up without tobacco
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May 28, 1998 Smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death in
Canada. Every year, 40,000 Canadians die of smoking-related causes. It is
estimated that 90% of smokers start smoking before the age of 20 and 75% of
young smokers become addicted by the age of 17.
The Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario pointed out several years
ago that addiction to tobacco almost always starts during the teenage years.
Since tobacco taxes were lowered about four years ago, there has been a
significant increase in youth smoking, despite legislation that makes it
illegal to sell cigarettes to those under 19. Half of all smokers will die
of a tobacco-related illness and a quarter will die in middle age - about 23
years earlier than Canada's average life expectancy.
And despite the mounting evidence on the hazards of second-hand smoke, we
continue to allow millions of the world's children to grow up in a haze of
tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke is responsible for various illnesses in
children, including middle-ear infections and asthma. In adulthood,
thousands of Canadians die every year from lung cancer and cardiovascular
disease related to the effects of secondhand-smoke.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in a statement released to mark World
No Tobacco Day on May 31, points out that there are several complex and
interacting reasons why children take up smoking. They may be influenced by
seeing adults who smoke, ranging from family members to film stars, sports
heroes and teachers.
Tobacco advertising also plays a central role. Whether that be in a glossy
magazine or on the side of a sleek racing car, young people receive a clear
and constant message that smoking is glamorous, exciting, mature, and a
desirable way to behave. Although the tobacco industry may claim that it
does not want young people to smoke, its own documents tell a very different
story and show a longstanding interest in young smokers, says WHO. For its
very survival, the tobacco industry needs to recruit new smokers every year
to replace those who die from tobacco-related illnesses.
In a world where tobacco use is killing 1.5 million people each year - and
by 2020 is expected to kill more people than any single disease - drastic
measures are needed. WHO advocates strong anti-tobacco educational
programs, higher taxes on tobacco products, complete bans on tobacco
advertising and sponsorship, and mandates for tobacco-free schools and
public places.
The Canadian Society for International Health supports global tobacco
control and promotes World No-Tobacco Day in Canada on behalf of the Pan
American Health Organization, the regional office of the World Health
Organization.
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Growing up Without Tobacco World No-Tobacco Day 1998
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The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a strong warning on the occasion
of World No-Tobacco Day 1998 (May 31), which this year is dedicated to
children and is marked worldwide under the theme "Growing Up Without
Tobacco."
Speaking at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- the world's
largest exporter of tobacco leaf, but also home to an effective public
health programme to control tobacco - Dr. Fernando Antezana, Deputy
Director-General ad interim of WHO, stressed that "unless tough actions are
taken immediately, the tobacco epidemic will prematurely claim the lives of
about 250 million children and young people alive today."
In many countries, tobacco use is rising among young people, while the age
of smoking initiation is declining, warned Dr Antezana. The majority of
smokers begin while in their teenage years or earlier. However, if young
people do not begin to use tobacco before the age of 20, they are unlikely
to initiate use as adults. Globally, about one-third of the adult
population smokes. WHO also estimates that out of two smokers, who started
in young age and continue smoking throughout their lives, one will
ultimately be killed by a tobacco-related illness.
"Trends in young people's smoking must be reversed if we really care about
the health of our children - the most valuable asset in every country", said
Dr José Serra, Brazil's Minister of Health. According to him, "with tobacco
poised to become the leading cause of death in the world within two or three
decades, policy-makers have a clear responsibility to create conditions for
children to grow up without tobacco."
Scientists say there are a number of complex and interacting reasons why
children and adolescents begin smoking. Often, they mistake smoking for an
attribute of independence -- an image skilfully built by tobacco advertising
and promotional activities, and incarnated in adults who smoke.
Although there is a global consensus to prevent young people from smoking,
children around the world are receiving contradictory messages concerning
tobacco. In many countries, smoking is considered normal social behaviour,
tobacco products are inexpensive and easily accessible, and tobacco
advertising is prolific.
"While curiosity and independence are natural parts of growing up,
experimentation with tobacco products is not. Early use of tobacco products
is purposeful and is the result of demand created by the tobacco industry.
We fail as a society if we cannot protect our children from the harm and
seduction of tobacco," said Michael Eriksen, Director of the United States
Office on Smoking and Health.
Although the tobacco industry claims that it does not want young people to
smoke, their own documents show a longstanding interest in young smokers.
For their very survival, the tobacco industry needs to constantly recruit
new smokers to replace those that die from smoking-related diseases. Those
new smokers are most often teenagers.
According to WHO, in order to ensure that the health of children be
effectively protected and promoted, tough decisions against tobacco are
needed, including a total ban on tobacco advertising and the adoption of the
international framework convention on tobacco control.
"As adults, we must stand up for the health of the world's children, even in
the face of considerable opposition. It is time for all of us to make those
critical decisions, which will truly allow our children to grow up without
tobacco", said Dr Fernando Antezana, Deputy Director-General a.i. of WHO.
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Tried and True Solutions to Cardiovascular Pandemic,
PAHO Director Says
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Washington, DC, May 27, 1998-- Heart attack, stroke, and hypertension have
reached pandemic proportions, but there are tried and true solutions that
have caused significant and progressive reductions in mortality, according
to Dr. George A.O. Alleyne, Director of the Pan American Health
Organization.
Dr. Alleyne spoke at the opening of the International Conference on Global
Shifts in Disease Burden: The Cardiovascular Disease Pandemic, sponsored by
PAHO, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the Fogarty
International Center.
He said corrective measures have been shown to work in developed countries.
"In Canada, for example, vigorous programs have caused a decrease in the
number of cardiovascular deaths. If the same rate applied in 1992 as in
1970, there would have been one half million more deaths from cardiovascular
disease. Similarly, in the USA there has been a remarkable decline in death
from coronary heart disease and you will hear the same story repeated in the
United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand."
"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the cardiovascular diseases are
becoming major killers in the developing world," Dr. Alleyne said, and
"noncommunicable diseases now account for over 60% of mortality and
disability in the Americas and cardiovascular disease accounts for the
majority of this."
"Cardiovascular disease involves some combination of smoking, high blood
pressure, high blood cholesterol, unhealthy dietary practices, and sedentary
life style with the additions of psychosocial stress," he said. Basic
prevention actions include adoption of a public health approach to the
prevention and control of cardiovascular disease as well as adoption of
"health promoting dietary habits, tobacco free life style, regular physical
activity, and what has been called a supportive psycho-social environment,"
he added. Other actions include ensuring that all population groups have
access to health services that provide prevention and promotion especially
in the management of high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, obesity,
and diabetes, as well as support for research into cardiovascular diseases
and "stimulation of intercountry exchanges so that the richer and more
developed countries might transfer resources and knowledge to the others,"
Dr. Alleyne said.
Dr. Claude Lenfant, Director of NHLBI, said the goals of the two day meeting
are to use the 50th anniversaries of his Institute and the World Health
Organization "to call attention to the pandemic of cardiovascular disease in
the Western Hemisphere and to seek new ways to prevent and control the
spread of CVD in the future. In short, this conference is a call to joint
action in CVD, and sharing of the wealth of knowledge and expertise
available in the countries of the Americas."
For more information please contact the Office of Public Information, Tel
(202) 974-3459, Fax (202) 974-3143, e-mail: [log in to unmask] 525 Twenty-
Third Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20037, USA http:\\www.paho.org
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