5月31日是世界無煙日，世界衛生組織呼吁各國全面禁止各類煙草廣告、贊助及推廣活動，以幫助減少吸煙人數，尤其是預防年輕人成為新的煙民。世衛組織表示，該禁令應將香煙銷售點的廣告和促銷活動包括在內，因為很多銷售點都把香煙擺在兒童食品貨架附近。該組織指出，每年全世界約有600萬人死于煙草使用，其中超過60萬是死于二手煙危害；如果不采取進一步措施，到2030年死于煙草危害的人數將超過800萬。世衛組織同時警告稱，隨著各類禁令的出臺，煙草公司也在尋找新的廣告形式，比如贊助體育或文化活動，病毒營銷以及口口相傳等策略。

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday called for a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship as it marks World No Tobacco Day Friday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday called for a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship as it marks World No Tobacco Day Friday.

The WHO said the ban should include point-of-sale (POS) advertising or store sales promotions, the last refuge of advertisers still allowed in most countries where all other kinds of tobacco advertising have been banned.

It said that children were exposed to POS advertising, since cigarettes were often sold near racks of candy and other items aimed at children.

“As called for in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, governments must comprehensively ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship,” said Shin Young-soo, WHO Western Pacific regional director.

“We must halt the tobacco industry’s aggressive marketing of its products, which cause addiction, suffering and millions of deaths each year,” he said.

The WHO noted that after Hong Kong banned tobacco advertising in broadcast media, billboards and print media, it was found that brand recognition remained high at 30 percent to 64 percent among children whose families were nonsmoking because POS advertising and sponsorship were not controlled.

To subvert marketing bans, the tobacco industry has shifted to forms of indirect advertising, such as sponsorship of sports or cultural events and viral marketing, including word-of-mouth, the WHO said.

The global organization warned that tobacco use was a leading cause of preventable death, killing nearly six million people every year around the world.

“Of this number, more than 600,000 are nonsmokers who die from exposure to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030,” the WHO said.

Meanwhile, the cancer survivor group New Voice Association of the Philippines (NVAP) urged the government to enact stricter antismoking laws to plug legal loopholes “that are being used by the tobacco industry to continue to promote their deadly products.”

“As the tobacco industry loses its grip on the West, it has turned its eyes on Asean, especially the Philippines, to promote its deadly products,” said Emer Rojas, NVAP president.

(Source: Asia News Network)

相關閱讀

World No-Tobacco Day 世界無煙日

美頒布風味香煙禁令 即日生效

澳高法通過法案 煙盒不得出現煙草公司標志

愛爾蘭統一香煙包裝 禁用品牌標志

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen ）