World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)

Health Professions Worldwide Are Key in Tobacco Control

GENEVA, Switzerland, 31 May 2005 - The World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) fully supports the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasis on the key role of health professions in tobacco control. On behalf of the 20 million nurses, pharmacists and physicians working worldwide, WHPA is committed to strengthening the active involvement of health professionals in the prevention and cessation of tobacco use. WHPA, a strong supporter of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), calls on health professionals and their associations to pressure governments that are signatories to the Convention to move forward quickly with implementation of the treaty’s provisions.  Equally, health professionals in countries that have not yet ratified the WHO FCTC should lobby their governments to do so.

Tobacco is the second leading cause of death globally, causing nearly five million deaths a year.  Estimates show that it will prematurely kill ten million people a year by 2020 if current trends are not reversed.  Tobacco is the only legal product that causes the death of half of its regular users.  This means that out of 1.3 billion smokers, 650 million people will die prematurely.

Health professionals have a fundamental role to play in helping people change tobacco-related behaviour and either cease using tobacco or refrain from early use. Studies have shown that even brief counselling by health professionals on the dangers of smoking and the importance of quitting is one of the most cost-effective methods of reducing smoking.

As leaders and role models, health professionals can set the example for society in designating their workplaces as smoke/tobacco free. As well, adding tobacco control as a part of the training and education programme of all health professionals can result, ultimately, in a drastic reduction of smoking prevalence.

Editor’s Note:.

World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)

The World Health Professions Alliance brings together medicine, nursing and pharmacy through their representative international organisations, International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the World Medical Association (WMA) and represents more than 20 million health professionals worldwide.

 

The World Health Professions Alliance brings together medicine, nursing and pharmacy through their representative international organisations, International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the World Medical Association (WMA) and represents more than 20 million health professionals worldwide.

 

• The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of 125 national nurses' associations representing the millions of nurses worldwide.  Operated by nurses for nurses since 1899, ICN is the international voice of nursing and works to ensure quality care for all and sound health policies globally.
  
  
• The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is the worldwide federation of national associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Pharmacists are health care professionals dedicated to improving access to and value of appropriate medicine use worldwide.   
  
  
• The World Medical Association (WMA) is a global federation of national medical associations, representing the millions of physicians worldwide.  Acting on behalf of physicians and patients, the WMA endeavours to achieve the highest possible standards of medical science, education, ethics and health care for all people.

 

PR/05 #16

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