Global Fight Against Tobacco Intensifies

Likening the tobacco industry to a "disease vector" such as a virus or bacterium, a report by the World Health Organization called on governments around the world to strengthen the fight against tobacco, and offered them a six-point set of measures for doing so.

Only 5% of the world's population is discouraged from smoking by any antitobacco measure, such as with advertising bans, prominent warning labels on cigarette packs and smoke-free public spaces, despite billions of dollars that governments collect in tobacco-tax revenue, according to the report. Tobacco-tax revenue is more than 500 times higher than spending on tobacco control, it said.

About 5.4 million people in the world annually die prematurely from tobacco-related causes such as cancer, according to the WHO. By 2030, the agency predicts that number will rise to 8.3 million. About 80% of those will come from low- and middle-income nations, many of which are simultaneously grappling with HIV/AIDS and other infectious scourges.

The report represents the WHO's toughest stance in the fight against tobacco. The agency already has an antitobacco treaty that requires 152 participating countries to restrict tobacco advertising, impose tax increases on cigarettes and smoking bans. The treaty also encourages countries to explore litigation against tobacco firms.

But the WHO faces challenges in implementing these strategies. Many countries don't have the money or resources to pursue tobacco-control measures. Tax increases and other antitobacco measures can be difficult to implement and enforce.

To step up its effort, the WHO has teamed up with New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose Bloomberg Philanthropies helped the United Nations agency fund the report.

In August 2006, Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire and former smoker, pledged $125 million to a global antitobacco campaign. So far, 86 organizations in 34 countries have received funds for antitobacco efforts.

The WHO hopes that governments can replicate at least some of the success Mr. Bloomberg has had in New York City with a tough and highly publicized campaign against tobacco. Launched after he took office in 2002, it has included bans on smoking in restaurants and workplaces, tax increases on cigarettes, antitobacco advertising, and other measures. Restaurant and bar owners who flout smoking bans are fined as much as $2,000.

As a result, New York City had 240,000 fewer adult smokers in 2006 than it did in 2002, representing a 19% decline in prevalence, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"While tobacco-control measures are sometimes controversial, they save lives and governments need to step up and do the right thing," Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement announcing the release of the report.

The WHO gives its effort a brand name: "Mpower." The term stands for the six antitobacco strategies it calls on countries to implement: monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; protect people from tobacco smoke; offer help to quit tobacco use; warn about the dangers of tobacco; enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and raise taxes on tobacco.

Write to Betsy McKay at betsy.mckay@wsj.com