Ithaca College

World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), is an annual awareness day celebrated around the globe that draws worldwide attention to the tobacco epidemic and highlights the need for effective policies to reduce tobacco use. World No Tobacco Day is celebrated each year on May 31st!

Tobacco kills almost 6 million people every year and 600,000 of those are non-smoker deaths from second-hand smoke.   World No Tobacco Day 2015 is calling on countries to end the illicit trade of tobacco products. 

According to the World Health Organization, the key messages to the 2015 campaign include:

• Illicit trade of tobacco products hooks young people into experimenting with tobacco because they are more affordable.  In addition, illicit tobacco products do not display health warnings and at times involve children in the illegal selling of the products.
• Illicit trade reduces tax revenue for the Government which could be spent toward public services rather in the hands of criminals.
• Illicit trade strengthens corruption and weakens good governance.
• Tobacco companies have been known to indulge in the illicit trade of tobacco products and use loopholes in tobacco control governance systems.

Tobacco kills up to half of its users.  Unless crucial action is taken the annual death toll is estimated to rise to more than 8 million deaths by 2030. 

If you are a smoker looking to quit, check out a World No Tobacco Day informational e-packet here https://www.ithaca.edu/hr/benefits/wrklife/healthEpackets/?item=7429. 
Visit http://www.who.int/campaigns/no-tobacco-day/2015/event/en/ for more information on World No Tobacco Day.