Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New York, USA) –– World Lung Foundation today issued the following statement to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of “Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States” (the Surgeon General’s Report), which detailed scientific proof of the health harms of tobacco use.
Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation, commented: “Prior to The Surgeon General’s Report, the tobacco industry was the only voice consumers heard – and it used that voice to portray its products as healthy and glamorous. Smokers had no idea they were using products that killed 50 percent of the people who used them. The Surgeon General’s Report is the root of millions of lives saved.
“On the international stage, the Report helped build consensus for tobacco control, which culminated in the world’s first public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Today, 177 countries have ratified the treaty and 2.3 billion people – one third of the world’s population – are covered by at least one effective tobacco control measure.
“However, the legacy of The Surgeon General’s Report is not complete. In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence that tobacco kills, the industry has shifted from the science to even more cynical methods that undermine measures to protect people from tobacco-related diseases. It stifles efforts at effective public education and opposes graphic warnings that show tobacco’s harms. It continues to exert undue influence on government policy to delay or kill tobacco control measures and is increasingly using international trade law to bully national governments into watering down their health policies.
“Much work remains in the U.S. as well. According to CDC, 21.6% of adult men and 16.5% of adult women were current smokers in 2011. While the US signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2004, it still has not ratified the treaty. Tobacco companies recently launched successful legal challenges against the introduction of larger graphic warnings on cigarette packs. And now we see the advance of Big Tobacco into e-cigarettes, which could be a Trojan horse to hook new users and undermine the de-normalization of smoking.
“The best way to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Surgeon General’s Report would be to further reduce tobacco use. We encourage countries to adopt and enforce more stringent tobacco control measures. We call on the tobacco industry to cease denying or downplaying the negative health effects of its products. And we hope for a healthier, tobacco-free future for the generations to come.”