Nearly 6 million people die from tobacco use each year, including 600,000 non-smokers, and without action those numbers could rise to more than 8 million by 2030, says the World Health Organization. World No Tobacco Day is supposed to spur the action needed to help prevent such deaths.
On World No Tobacco Day, observed May 31, the international agency this year takes inventory of whether anti-smoking policies agreed to by most of the world in a public-health treaty are being implemented. The policies -- meant to decrease smoking-related deaths -- include higher tobacco taxes, designations of smoke-free public areas, restrictions on tobacco advertising and limits on additives.
