May 31 is World No Tobacco Day

This year the World Health Organization's theme for World No Tobacco Day focuses on second-hand smoke and highlights the progress that has been achieved around the world in protecting nonsmokers by making workplaces and public spaces smoke-free.

The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.  Tobacco use is one of the chief preventable causes of death in the world.  WHO attributes about 5 million deaths a year to tobacco use, a figure expected to rise to about 10 million deaths by the year 2020, with 7 million of these deaths occurring in developing countries.

It is well known that half the people who smoke regularly today - about 650 million people worldwide - will eventually be killed by tobacco.  Equally alarming is the fact that hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by breathing second-hand tobacco smoke.

The WHO also acknowledges the role of health care professionals.  Studies show that smokers are more likely to quit smoking permanently if the receive counseling, behavioral therapy, and pharmacologic treatment.

They encourage health professionals to provide their patients information about the health consequences of smoking, help their smoking patients quit, and be role models who promote tobacco-free lifestyles.