The report outlines the MPOWER package, a set of six key tobacco control measures that reflect and build on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

 World Health Organization – February  2008

Available online as PDF file [342p.] at:

http://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/mpower_report_full_2008.pdf

“……Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today. This year, tobacco will kill more than five million people – more than tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. By 2030, the death toll will exceed eight million a year. Unless urgent action is taken tobacco could kill one billion people during this century.

Tobacco is the only legal consumer product that can harm everyone exposed to it – and it kills up to half of those who use it as intended. Yet, tobacco use is common throughout the world due to low prices, aggressive and widespread marketing, lack of awareness about its dangers, and inconsistent public policies against its use.

Most of tobacco’s damage to health does not become evident until years or even decades after the onset of use. So, while tobacco use is rising globally, the epidemic of tobacco-related disease and death has just begun.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - FCTC, a multilateral treaty with more than 150 Parties, was the first step in the global fight against the tobacco

epidemic. This treaty presents a blueprint for countries to reduce both the supply of and the demand for tobacco. The WHO Framework Convention establishes

that international law has a vital role in preventing disease and promoting health.

To help countries fulfil the promise of the WHO Framework Convention, WHO has established MPOWER, a package of the six most important and effective

tobacco control policies: raising taxes and prices, banning advertising, promotion and sponsorship, protecting people from secondhand smoke, warning everyone about the dangers of tobacco, offering help to people who want to quit, and carefully monitoring the epidemic and prevention policies. …”

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT BY SECTION

Forward by WHO Director General and report summary [pdf 847kb]

The global tobacco crisis [pdf 335kb]

MPOWER - six policies to reverse the epidemic [pdf 446kb]

The state of global tobacco control [pdf 554kb]

Conclusion, references, technical notes and acknowledgements [pdf 577kb]

Appendices
Country profiles [pdf 2.99Mb]

Global tobacco control policy data [pdf 708kb]

Prevalence and data [pdf 480kb]

Global youth tobacco survey data [pdf 146kb]

WHO FCTC [pdf 67kb]