Mongkol warns of smoking time bomb

He told an important international conference in Bangkok yesterday that worldwide fatalities from smoking could reach as many as 10 million a year by 2020, from a current five million annually. "Serious" campaigns and measures are needed, he said.

The second conference of parties to the World Health Or-ganisation Framework Con-vention on Tobacco Control as-sembled in Bangkok yesterday.

As many as 800 health officials and experts from the 161 member countries that adopted the convention are here until Friday.

Mongkol told them that of the 1.3 billion smokers worldwide, half lived in Asia and that on a daily basis 80,000 to 100,000 teenagers worldwide started smoking.

The conference of parties will follow up on the framework convention, which aims to control tobacco use and protect people from second-hand smoke by targeting transnational tobacco advertising and smuggling as well as expanding smoke-free environments.

The framework requires countries to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, establish new labelling and indoor-air controls and strengthen legislation to clamp down on tobacco smuggling.

At 3pm yesterday, WHO deputy director-general Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah and Mongkol unveiled the "death clock". It has recorded smoking-related deaths since October 25, 1999, when the framework convention was introduced in Geneva.

The clock serves as a remin-der for member countries to quickly implement measures. It has ticked for seven and a half years and is showing 33 million deaths.

Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham presided over the opening ceremony at 4.30pm. He said tobacco was the world's second biggest killer.

In Thailand there are 11 million smokers aged 11 and older. One in four are workers aged 20 to 59. There are many more male smokers than female, he added.

Thailand will expand smoke-free environments to cover more public places such as open markets and prisons, ban transnational advertising and encourage tobacco farmers to plant alternative crops, he said.

Thailand expanded smoking bans to many air-conditioned public places in early 2006, including hotel lobbies and trains. Offenders face fines starting at Bt2,000.