Jump to full article: The Times of India, 2003-09-09
Intro: The 11 countries of the South-East Asian region with a 1.5 billion population have agreed to come together in fighting tobacco which is viewed as a major health threat, bigger than even some communicable diseases.
The countries " six of the Saarc and five of the Asean groups " reached a consensus at the end of the two-day meeting of their health ministers here on Tuesday to launch a concerted attack on tobacco.
Three of them " Bangladesh, Thailand and Korea " have already signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Others have agreed with the proposal and decided to frame laws to control tobacco.
India approved of it even before FCTC passed legislations to curb tobacco consumption, health minister Sushma Swaraj said, while briefing reporters on the deliberations of the meeting.
The 11 countries, which have a 40 per cent share of the worlds major diseases, have decided to ban ads glorifying cigarette smoking.
Jump to full article » |