This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
The World Health Organization hasreleased a new report on smoking tobacco. It is called the “TobaccoAtlas.” The study says that five-hundred-sixty people die every hourfrom smoking tobacco. That is more than thirteen-thousand peopleeach day, or almost five-million people every year.
W-H-O officials say the Tobacco Atlas is the first of its kindfor the health industry. They say it will help educate people andpolicy makers about the health problems tobacco has created for theworld’s population.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Preventionhelped produce the Tobacco Atlas. It includes many colorfulpictures, maps and images to help explain difficult information.
World Health Organization officials say this will help readersunderstand the facts and use them effectively. Similarities anddifferences among countries are presented. There is also informationabout the risks from tobacco to individual health. And there isinformation about what governments must pay to fight the illegaltransport of tobacco into their countries.
Judith Mackay was one of the writers of the Tobacco Atlas. Shesays that tobacco is doing the most damage in developing countries,especially those in Asia. In China, for example, she says aboutseven-hundred-fifty-thousand people die each year from tobacco.Around the world, fifty percent of young smokers will die fromtobacco-related causes. Doctor Mackay warns the problem will worsenover time.
Doctor Mackay hopes that policy makers will use the Tobacco Atlasas they begin to consider national and international restrictions ontobacco. Officials from W-H-O member states met recently in Geneva,Switzerland to discuss the issue. They hope to have an agreement ontobacco control ready for W-H-O approval by May of next year. Theagreement could include a ban on advertisements for smoking andhigher taxes on tobacco.
The W-H-O says tobacco smoking may kill more than eight-millionpeople a year by the year two-thousand-twenty if control measuresare not put in place soon. Experts say more than seventy percent ofthe deaths will be in developing countries.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.