With today (May 31st) being World No Tobacco Day as first declared by the World Health Organization in 1987, a local public health promoter says while much progress has been made, there remains much to be done.
With the day’s 2024 focus on protecting children from tobacco industry interference, Keith Beecroft says countering smoking and vaping product marketing is a major focus.
Beecroft says the loud public outcry for more smoke-free spaces that we’ve heard in recent years points to the fact that smoking is longer viewed as the norm.
Beecroft adds it’s not the intention of public health to make smokers out to be pariahs. Quite the opposite, he says, with the focus being on the tobacco companies’ aggressiveness in selling their products.
World No Tobacco Day, says Beecroft, “carries some weight” in that it allows public health officials to hone in on not only past achievements but what still needs to be done.
(Written by: Paul Rellinger)
