YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS.  On May 31 the whole world marks the “World No Tobacco Day”. The World Health Organization (WHO) on that day marks World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. Tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.

 For World No Tobacco Day 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls on countries to raise taxes on tobacco. It calls on countries to implement tax and price policies on tobacco products as a way to reduce tobacco consumption. Research shows that higher taxes are especially effective in reducing tobacco use among lower-income groups and in preventing young people from starting to smoke. A tax increase that increases tobacco prices by 10%, decreases tobacco consumption by about 4% in high-income countries and by up to 8% in most low- and middle-income countries. The ultimate goal of World No Tobacco Day is to contribute to protecting present and future generations not only from the devastating health consequences due to tobacco, but also from the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

As reports “Armenpress”, at the press conference held in the Ministry of Health the Deputy Minister Sergey Khachatryan noted that the fight against tobacco use every year becomes more intense. In his view, for the fight against smoking, the activities carried out by the Ministry of Health, as well as a number of non-governmental organizations, are focused, first of all, on forming a new culture.