The European Respiratory Society (ERS) welcomes a new report released yesterday (8 July 2011) by the World Health Organization (WHO), which found that more than 1 billion people are now protected by laws requiring graphic health warnings on tobacco packages.

Entitled, Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2011, the new report is the third statement the WHO has issued assessing countries' progress in combatting tobacco use. The major findings show that countries are making significant, measurable steps towards implementing health warnings on tobacco packages and other proven measures to reduce tobacco use.

However, the report also found that many countries need to do more to reverse the tobacco epidemic that is predicted to kill 1 billion people worldwide this century unless preventive measures are put in place.

The European Respiratory Society's Tobacco Control Committee supports the vision of the WHO and is focused on campaigning for the use of mandatory, large pictorial warnings on the back and front of tobacco product.

Tobacco Control Committee chair Luke Clancy, said: "We welcome the important findings of the new WHO report, which confirm that many countries are making significant progress towards tackling the tobacco epidemic.

"Tobacco control is arguably the most important health intervention of our time and it is important for respiratory physicians to play an active role in this process. We have used the ERS expertise and quality in medical science to act at a local level, a European level and an international level to reduce tobacco use.

"By continuing our efforts to reduce tobacco use across Europe, we can avert hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths each year."

The WHO report also found:

• Since 2008, 16 more countries have enacted national smoke-free laws covering all public places and workplaces. 210 million people are also now protected by smoke-free laws at the state or local level, a gain of 100 million since 2008.
• In the past two years, 23 countries, with a combined population of nearly 2 billion people, have aired strong mass media campaigns about the harmful effects of tobacco use.
• 26 countries and one territory now have tobacco taxes that constitute the WHO recommended minimum of 75% of retail price.

Read the full report