The U.S. Plays Catch Up

Extract

A popular YouTube video shows a 2-year-old Indonesian boy, supposedly with a two-pack-a-day habit, deftly smoking a cigarette. The ghastly video illustrates what can happen as tobacco companies push their death wares in the Third World. “While there's been a good bit of success in the U.S. and some of the more developed countries, it's frightening when you see the growth of tobacco use in the developing world,” said Robert T. Croyle, Ph.D., director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco kills more than 5 million people per year worldwide—more than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. The CDC estimates that more than 1 billion people will die this century from tobacco-related illness unless urgent action is taken.

The World Health Organization is well aware of these statistics. To date, 172 countries have adopted the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first public health treaty. The framework, which uses a global approach to combating the tobacco epidemic, requires tobacco products to carry warning labels covering at least 30%–50% of the package's principal display areas—preferably with graphic pictures or illustrations—portraying the harmful effects of tobacco use. Although the U.S. has not officially signed on to WHO FCTC, the new U.S. warning labels match the labeling initiatives efforts adopted by countries that have.