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The 2004 World No Tobacco Day poster, developed by the WHO. The WHO theme for 2004 was ‘Tobacco and Poverty’, however, New Zealand continued to promote a second-hand smoke theme in support of the smokefree workplaces legislation that was to be implemented on 10 December that year. |
World Smokefree Day (known elsewhere in the world as World No Tobacco Day) is annually promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 May with activities varying from country to country. Each year the WHO provides a kit of information to support World No Tobacco Day. New Zealand may or may not use the international theme, depending on its relevance to national tobacco control priorities.
The purpose of World No Tobacco Day is to inform the public about the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.
International initiatives to mobilise public awareness, interest and action may include:
- media campaigns to draw attention to the scope of tobacco-related disease
- Quit and Win competitions to encourage group participation in smoking cessation
- media stories focusing on individual tobacco users and the strategies that helped them succeed in stopping smoking
- lobbying of professional bodies representing health workers (eg, doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists) to encourage them to prioritise smoking cessation
- encouraging government and other providers of healthcare to give higher priority to smoking cessation services
- forming alliances to increase public awareness and action on quitting smoking.
