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| Overview |
India has won the bid to host the 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH). The conference will be returning to a developing country after 12 years.
The WCTOH brings together the global tobacco control community once every three years. It has a rich tradition going back to the first conference in 1967 in New York where Robert F. Kennedy was the keynote speaker. The last world conference to be held in a developing country was in Beijing, China in 1997.
The conference aims to advance tobacco control in many ways by generating interest and greater involvement of different stakeholders, advancing tobacco control policies and providing a global perspective on tobacco control issues. The Asia - Pacific region suffers a greater concentration of the tobacco epidemic. The 14th WCTOH aims to develop interest and awareness in local communities and also build a network for stronger action against tobacco.
The Global Tobacco Epidemic
The strong tobacco control initiatives in developed countries have increased the attractiveness of developing countries which have fewer restrictions for the transnational tobacco industry. Countries in Asia and Africa are the hardest hit, as historically local tobacco products have always prevailed in the markets and now transnational corporations, with sophisticated and aggressive marketing techniques and huge financial backing have exacerbated the problem.
China and India lead the production of tobacco in the world thus employing a huge population in the tobacco industry. Providing alternative sources of employment and income represent additional challenges to tobacco control and are important issues to be addressed.
The extent of this problem is well illustrated by details of the tobacco epidemic in India:
India has the widest spectrum of smoking and smokeless tobacco use: smoked, chewed, applied (as dentrice), sniffed and gargled.
India is the second largest producer and consumer of tobacco in the world.
Children are the most vulnerable victims of tobacco. Every two seconds, one more Indian child will have his or her first tobacco experience.
Deaths due to smoking currently exceed 7, 00,000 annually and this number is projected to increase (5, 50,000 of these deaths are among men less than 69 years).
While the tobacco control community has become very effective in many developed countries and often has strong federal and local support, this is not the case in developing countries. The fact that the tobacco industry is a huge revenue generator further discourages support in many parts of the world.
The world conference is a unique opportunity for various organizations, local or international, to participate, share and learn. This conference will provide an opportunity for professional organizations in developing countries to make tremendous strides in education, strategy development, networking, and mobilization.
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