World No Tobacco Day 2008 Tobacco Free Youth
Bedre Manjunath
World Health Organisation recognizes World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) each year on 31 May. This year’s theme is Tobacco-Free Youth. This year’s theme highlights two critical messages: (1) tobacco marketing can contribute to disability and death, and (2) complete ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion are highly effective measures for tobacco control as they reduce experimentation and initiation in tobacco use.
The Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. In 1988, Resolution WHA42.19 was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on 31 May.
World No Tobacco Day Themes
2008 - Tobacco-free youth
2007 - Smoke free inside
2006 - Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise
2005 - Health professionals against tobacco
2004 - Tobacco and poverty, a vicious circle
2003 - Tobacco free film, tobacco free fashion
2002 - Tobacco free sports
2001 - Second-hand smoke kills
2000 - Tobacco kills, don’t be duped
Important Web Sites to be visited:
www.who.int/tobacco/wntd/2008/en/index.html
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_No_Tobacco_Day
www.tobaccofacts.org/o2zone/world.html
www.wpro.who.int
