WiRED International Observes World No Tobacco Day
BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN
May 31 is World No Tobacco Day. The World Health Organization began this global observance in 1987 to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and to encourage governments to adopt effective policies to reduce tobacco use.
Tobacco kills around 6 million people a year through direct tobacco use or second-hand smoke exposure — the majority of whom live in underserved countries. Tobacco use is a preventable cause of death and disease due to cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease and other health problems.
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This year’s World No Tobacco Day theme calls on countries worldwide to adopt plain packaging of tobacco products. Plain packaging makes tobacco merchandise less attractive to consumers, limits use of packaging as a form of advertising, controls misleading labeling and increases the effectiveness of health warnings.
WiRED offers a three-part module series on quitting tobacco and promotes tobacco cessation as crucial to a healthy lifestyle and as a preventive measure to combat disease.
