NY / WHO TOBACCO REPORT

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there has been a dramatic increase in tobacco control policies worldwide over the past decade which are now covering some 4.7 billion people. UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:35
• Production Date: 19 July 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: TOBACCO CONTROL
• MAMS Id: 1934810
• Parent Id: 1934810
• Alternate Title: unifeed170719c

Description

STORY: NY / WHO TOBACCO REPORT
TRT: 02:35
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 19 JULY 2017, NEW YORK CITY

Shotlist

19 JULY 2017, NEW YORK CITY

1. Tilt down, One UN Plaza exterior
2. Wide shot, drummers preforming
3. Close up, drummer
4. Wide shot, drummers preforming
5. Wide shot, conference room
6. Close up, official in attendance
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“There are two sides to the non-communicable diseases challenge. Clearly it is important to provide services to test and treat people who are ill, but the real breakthrough will come when we can stop people developing these diseases in the first place; prevention being the foundation of what we do. As you all know, one of the single biggest causes of non-communicable diseases is tobacco. And tobacco kills more than seven million people annually. That is equivalent to wiping out the entire population of Bulgaria or Paraguay every year. And that’s unacceptable.”
8. Wide shot, Bloomberg shaking hands with WHO Director-General
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael R. Bloomberg Global Ambassador for Non-communicable Diseases, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I think it is fair to say that for the first time in human history more people are dying from non-communicable diseases like cancer and heart disease then are dying from infectious diseases like polio and tuberculosis. Just think about that. The whole world has changed and these killers now account for about 67 percent of all deaths in low and middle income countries, 40 million people each year, many caused by tobacco. These diseases haven’t gotten the attention they deserve but the world’s cities are stepping up now to help change that. And I’ve always thought that mayors can act quickly to put effective policies in place and their success can spur action at a national level.”
10. Med shot, people in attendance
11. Wide shot, panel discussion
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Douglas Bettcher, Director, Department for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, World Health Organization:
“We have to consider, this is a completely preventable epidemic. There is no use for a product that kills half of its consumers when used a recommended by its manufacturers. We have the tools to eradicate it. And again we have interventions like tobacco tax increases that are a win-win situation.”
13. Wide shot, Bloomberg and WHO Director-General shaking hands
14. Close up, WHO Director-General

Storyline

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there has been a dramatic increase in tobacco control policies worldwide over the past decade which are now covering some 4.7 billion people.

In a report released today (19 Jul), WHO said 63 percent of the world’s population are covered by at least one comprehensive tobacco control measure, which has quadrupled since 2007 when only 1 billion people and 15 percent of the world’s population were covered. The global tobacco epidemic report however pointed out that the tobacco industry continues to hamper government efforts to fully implement life-saving interventions.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said tobacco kills more than seven million people annually which is “equivalent to wiping out the entire population of Bulgaria or Paraguay every year.” He said tobacco was one of the single biggest causes of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). He stressed that a breakthrough to fighting NCDs would come “when we can stop people developing these diseases in the first place; prevention being the foundation of what we do.”

WHO Global Ambassador for Non-communicable Diseases, Michael Bloomberg, said global sales of tobacco products were on a decline for the first time since the beginning of their mass production over a century ago. He said tobacco companies have now turned their focus to people who are less educated and less wealthy which is a disgrace. He said tobacco control efforts were on track to save some 100 million lives by 2030, but still more needed to be done. Bloomberg stressed that for the first time in human history “more people are dying from non-communicable diseases like cancer and heart disease than are dying from infectious diseases like polio and tuberculosis.” He said these diseases have not received the attention they deserve “but the world’s cities are stepping up now to help change that.” The former mayor of New York City said “mayors can act quickly to put effective policies in place and their success can spur action at a national level.”

WHO director of the department for the prevention of NCDs Douglas Bettcher said the tobacco epidemic is “completely preventable.” He said, “There is no use for a product that kills half of its consumers when used a recommended by its manufacturers.” Bettcher noted interventions like tobacco tax increases are “a win-win situation” which could generate revenue for countries to improve their healthcare systems.