WHO Sees Tobacco Risk to a Billion Lives This Century

WHO Sees Tobacco Risk to a Billion Lives This Century
The World Health Organization calls on governments to follow six policies to reduce smoking rates.
19 February 2008

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

The World Health Organization is urging countries to follow six policies to prevent millions of tobacco-related deaths. The six policies are known as MPOWER, spelled M-P-O-W-E-R.

The M is for monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies. The P is for protecting people by establishing smoke-free areas.

O stands for offering services to help people stop smoking. W is for warning people about the dangers of tobacco.

E is for enforcing bans on tobacco advertising and other forms of marketing. And R is for raising taxes on tobacco.

The W.H.O. says in a major new report that raising taxes is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use. A study found that governments now collect an average of five hundred times more money in tobacco taxes each year than they spend on control efforts.

The W.H.O. says tobacco now causes more than five million deaths a year. It predicts this number will rise to more than eight million by the year two thousand thirty. By the end of the century, it says, tobacco could kill one billion people -- ten times as many as in the twentieth century.

The large majority of these deaths will take place in developing countries. More than twenty-five percent of all smokers in the world are Chinese. India, Indonesia, Russia and the United States, in that order, follow China in tobacco use.

The W.H.O. found that only five percent of all people live in countries with protections like national legislation on smoke-free areas or bans on tobacco advertising. Forty percent of countries still permit smoking in hospitals and schools.

An international treaty on tobacco control came into force in two thousand five.

Tobacco companies face increasingly restrictive marketplaces in many wealthier countries. The industry is now aiming at the developing world, especially young women. The report says large numbers of people do not yet know the dangers of smoking.

W.H.O. Director General Margaret Chan points out that tobacco hurts economies in two ways. One is through reduced productivity among workers who get lung cancer or other tobacco-related diseases. The other way is through high health care costs for treating those diseases.

The W.H.O. study was announced in New York City. New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has worked hard to restrict smoking in America's largest city. And his charitable group, Bloomberg Philanthropies, helped pay for the study.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report written by Caty Weaver. I'm Bob Doughty.

----------------------------Google Translate

世卫组织认为，烟草危害10亿生活在本世纪
世界卫生组织呼吁各国政府依循的6个政策，以减少吸烟率。
2008年2月19日

这是美国之音特别英语卫生报告。

世界卫生组织敦促各国遵循六项政策，以防止以百万计的与烟草有关的死亡。六项政策，是著名的mpower ，拼写mpower 。

并购是用于监测烟草使用和预防政策。为P是最大限度地保护人民通过建立无烟区。

o主张提供服务，以帮助人们戒烟。 W是为警告人们对烟草的危害性。

E是执行禁止烟草广告和其他形式的营销。和R是为提高税收对烟草。

该w.h.o.说，在一项重大的新报告说，加税是唯一最有效的方法，以减少烟草使用。一项研究发现，各国政府现在收集的平均500倍以上的钱，在烟草税，每年比花就控制工作。

该w.h.o.说，目前烟草造成500多万人死亡一年。据预测，这一数字将上升到800多万，由今年的2000 30 。由本世纪结束时，它说，烟，可杀死10亿人-的1 0倍之多，在二十世纪。

大部分这些死亡将发生在发展中国家。超过25 ％的所有吸烟者在世界上都是中国人。印度，印度尼西亚，俄罗斯和美国在该项命令，跟随中国在烟草使用。

该w.h.o.结果发现只有5 ％的人生活在国家的保护，如国家立法无烟区或禁止烟草广告。百分之四十的国家仍允许吸烟，在医院和学校。

一项国际条约，对烟草控制生效，在2000五名。

烟草公司面临越来越多的限制性市场，在许多较富裕的国家。业界现正着眼于发展中世界，特别是年轻妇女。报告说，大量的人不知道吸烟危险。

w.h.o.总干事陈冯富珍指出，烟草伤害经济两方面。一个是通过降低生产率的工人得到肺癌或其他与烟草有关的疾病。另一条途径是通过高医疗成本，为治疗这些疾病。

该w.h.o.研究公布在纽约市。纽约市长彭博，努力工作，以限制吸烟，在美国最大的城市。和他的慈善团体，彭博慈善，帮助支付了研究。

这也是该美国之音特别英语卫生报告撰写caty维夫。我鲍勃奥尔布赖特在强悍。