WHO member states approve new treaty to fight illegal tobacco trade

WHO member states meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday unanimously approved a new international treaty to combat the illegal tobacco trade, VOA News reports (11/12). "The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products commits countries to establishing, as a central measure, a global tracking and tracing system to reduce the illicit trade of tobacco products," a WHO press release states (11/12). "I can think of no other undertaking that can make such a huge contribution to better health in every corner of the world. And that includes the health of young children and unborn babies," WHO Executive Director Margaret Chan said at the opening of the Fifth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the U.N. News Centre reports. "Tobacco use is responsible for five million, or 12 percent, of all deaths of adults above the age of 30 globally each year -- equivalent to one death every six seconds -- noted a WHO mortality report released in March this year," the news service adds (11/12).