23 Feb 2009

The World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) took place in Mumbai, India, from March 8 through March 12.

The conference is an opportunity for tobacco control advocates, researchers and scientists to collaborate on international tobacco control issues, and discuss strategies to reduce tobacco use worldwide.

The event is taking place as the tobacco control movement gains energy and momentum around the world. The need for action and effective solutions is clear : tobacco kills almost 14,000 people every day. Unless urgent action is taken, tobacco will kill 10 million people per year by 2020, 70 percent of them in developing countries.

The WCTOH was held in a developing country for the first time in 12 years, and India is a fitting location. India is a key nation in the tobacco control fight, having recently celebrated success in tobacco control by passing a national smokefree law.

Yet the tobacco industry continues to fight attempts to reduce tobacco use, partly by delaying and diluting legislation to place effective health warnings on tobacco packaging. Currently in India, there are approximately 120 million smokers, and almost half of males smoke.