Today is World No Tobacco Day - Health Ministry gets award for anti-smoking efforts JAMAICA'S MINISTRY of Health is among six regional winners of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)/World Health Organisation (WHO) award for its efforts to reduce the population's exposure to second-hand smoke. Other winners are Brazil's and Canada's Health Ministers, the Honduran Health Ministry, a California-based non-governmental organisation and the region of Waterloo in Canada. In announcing and presenting the award yesterday to Health Minister John Junor, Dr. Manuel Pena, PAHO/WHO representative in Jamaica said that the Ministry was being specifically recognised for eliminating smoking in its health facilities. The award was presented as part of the PAHO/WHO observation of the annual World No Tobacco Day, celebrated every year on May 31. This year's theme is "Clearing the Air Tobacco Kills". But while the Health Ministry was recognised for its efforts, Dr. Pena said that the war against tobacco cannot be fought by health authorities alone. The entire society, he said, has to be involved in combating the aggressive approaches of the tobacco industry. "The tobacco industry has well-established strategies to attract 11,000 new smokers every day to replace those who die from tobacco. Tobacco is advertised in sports events, in clubs, at pop concerts, on billboards. Tobacco is a communicated disease communicated through marketing," he said. About four million people die every year as a result of smoking but health officials say that smoking is the single most important cause of preventable death in the world. It is linked to more than 25 major diseases, including lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and hypertension.
|
