Tobacco: WMD in our midst?
2003-06-01 07:59
Chicago - A top US cancer specialist Saturday called tobacco a "weapon of mass destruction," and colleagues urged slapping an extra two-dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes and banning smoking in more public places.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) called for the steps as part of a wider crackdown on smoking-related diseases and deaths, which it billed as the world's number one public health threat.
In a keynote speech at the society's 39th annual meeting, Asco president Paul Bunn criticised existing tobacco-control measures as fragmented and ineffective and said a more comprehensive approach was needed to combat what one expert called "an industry-made pandemic of preventable diseases".
"Asco calls for an urgent and comprehensive review of the global tobacco issue - on its many levels - to achieve the total elimination of tobacco addiction and tobacco use," said Bunn. "Saving lives is our number one priority."
Cancer experts estimate that smoking-related illnesses were responsible for 100 million deaths in the last century, and will account for one billion in this century if the number of smokers continues to rise as projected.
The next 25 years will see "the largest industry-made pandemic of preventable diseases and early death in the recorded history of our world," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.
"Indeed, today tobacco is the only weapon of mass destruction which is being used against people in all regions of the world," he said.
Immediate steps
"We have the know-how to head this pandemic off, and thereby reduce human suffering from cancer and many, many, other diseases and save millions of lives over the course of the century."
Unveiling the organisation's new policy statement on tobacco here on Saturday, Bunn called for an independent panel to be set up to examine the tobacco problem on all its various levels: health, commerce, industry, trade and regulation.
The blue-ribbon panel, he suggested, should develop a long-term strategy for regulating and reducing tobacco use.
In the meantime, the international community should take some immediate steps to tackle the problem, by increasing the emphasis on international tobacco control; increasing tobacco taxes; restricting advertising and promotion even further, and requiring disclosure of ingredients in tobacco products.
In its new policy statement, Asco, - the world's leading group of cancer specialists - said that global efforts at tobacco-control had been unsuccessful, except in limited circumstances.
But the organistaion saved its harshest criticisms for US authorities, saying the United States "must take responsibility not only for its failures to control tobacco in this country, but also for pursuit of agricultural and trade policies that contribute significantly to disease and deaths from tobacco globally." - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA