Asians win awards in antismoking drive<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Manila<\/p>\n
On the eve of World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization
\n(WHO) on Monday praised three Asian medical doctors for their
\nefforts to stamp out smoking, an addiction that kills almost 5
\nmillion people a year.<\/p>\n
WHO honored health care professionals from Cambodia, Malaysia
\nand South Korea for their contributions to the fight against
\ntobacco and also praised government departments in Guam and
\nChina.<\/p>\n
\"They have played a predominant role in preventive measures,
\nincluding promoting social norm change and forewarning children
\nand adolescents of the danger of tobacco,\" said Shigeru Omi,
\nWHO's Western Pacific regional director.<\/p>\n
\"Despite what we know about smoking today, tobacco consumption
\ncontinues to increase worldwide, especially in developing
\ncountries,\" Omi said. \"Health professionals have the opportunity
\nto help people change their behavior.\"<\/p>\n
Lim Thai Pheang, director of Cambodia's National Center for
\nHealth Promotion, was praised in a WHO statement as \"a visionary
\nadvocate for tobacco control in Cambodia for many years\".<\/p>\n
Working to change attitudes with few resources, \"Lim started
\nin the mid-1990s to call for smoke-free policies, advertising
\nbans and improved public awareness of the harms of tobacco use\".<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, Sallehudin Bin Abu Bakar, deputy director of the
\nWilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Health Department, had since
\n1999 helped start up about 200 government 'Quit Smoking' clinics
\nacross the country.<\/p>\n
He produced a handbook on tobacco dependence and \"greatly
\ncontributed\" to training health professionals on tobacco control,
\nthe statement said.<\/p>\n
The third doctor honored, Park Jae-gahb, president of South
\nKorea's National Cancer Center, had persuaded three television
\nstations and 12 newspapers to stop showing scenes and pictures of
\npeople smoking.<\/p>\n
At his urging, the country's national assembly building became
\na non-smoking workplace and two national labor unions had adopted
\nno-smoking campaigns.<\/p>\n
WHO also honored Guam's Department of Mental Health and
\nSubstance Abuse for its \"comprehensive tobacco control strategy\".
\nGuam has the highest adult smoking rate among all U.S. states and
\nterritories, said WHO.<\/p>\n
China's Railway Ministry was praised for banning smoking in
\nmore than 500 train stations and introducing non-smoking
\ncarriages on 800 trains.<\/p>\n
According to WHO, smoking is the world's single biggest
\npreventable cause of death, claiming 4.9 million lives a year.<\/p>\n
If present consumption patterns continue, this will more than
\ndouble to 10 million deaths by 2020, with 70 percent of
\nfatalities in developing countries.<\/p>\n
In the Western Pacific region alone, tobacco kills more than
\n3,000 people each day. It has the highest rate of male smokers
\nand the fastest increase of smoking among children and young
\nwomen, according to WHO data.<\/p>",
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