Matrix
World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed around the world every year on 31 May.
This year’s theme for the day is “Commit to Quit”. The WHO created World No Tobacco Day in 1987. The purpose is to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.
Smoking currently leads to more than 8 million deaths each year worldwide, including 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
The day has been met with both enthusiasm and resistance around the globe from governments, public health organizations, smokers, growers, and the tobacco industry.
Groups around the world are encouraged by the WHO to organize events to celebrate World No Tobacco Day in their own way at the local level. Letter writing campaigns to government officials and local newspapers, marches, public debates, local and national publicity campaigns, anti-tobacco activist meetings, educational programming, and public art. Are some of the activities
Some governments use WNTD as the start date for implementing new smoking bans and tobacco control efforts.
For some, WNTD is seen as a challenge to individual freedom of choice or even a culturally acceptable form of discrimination.
