WHO promotes No Tobacco Day, but says smoking rising in poorer nations

The World Health Organisation, promoting No Tobacco Day this Thursday, is sounding the alarm over the power of Big Tobacco in a new report.

Consumption in the developing world is rising fast as companies aggresively market their products there, unhindered by advertising bans or health warnings, and replacing consumers in the West who have given up, or died.

"As the report explains, only one in eight countries is on track to meet the voluntary global target to reduce tobacco use. And one of the major factors impeding low- and middle-income countries is that certainly, countries face resistance from the tobacco industry that wishes to replace clients who die by freely marketing their products and keeping prices affordable for young people," says the WHO's Director of the Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases, Douglas Bettcher .
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