EMRO press release
29 May 2008
Tobacco- Free Youth
World No tobacco Day theme for 2008
The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean urges governments to take immediate action
to stop young people falling prey to the deadly tobacco addiction. Thousands of young people around
the world continue to take up smoking and other smokeless tobacco products, being entrapped by the
tobacco industry’s targeted campaigns on behalf of deadly product. This year's World No Tobacco
Day theme is "Tobacco-Free Youth” and calls for breaking of the marketing net of the tobacco
industry which lures young people, especially, through sponsorship, advertising and glamorization of
tobacco.
To commemorate this day WHO is holding World No Tobacco Day activities in all its Member States
and at the Regional Office from 31 May to 6 June 2008. The regional celebration will be inaugurated
by the WHO Regional Director, Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, in the holy city of Medina, and the event will
be marked by the announcement of Mecca and Medina, the most sacred cities for Muslims, as Tobacco
Free cities. A “Youth Against Tobacco” march will take place in front of the regional office in Cairo
on 3 June. It will be attended by a large number of young people, including scouts, youth
organizations, non-governmental organizations working on tobacco control, celebrities and media
personnel. The highlight of the event will be a symbolic “Breaking the Net’ activity in which the
young people participating will cut open a huge net representing the marketing net of the tobacco
industry.
World No Tobacco Day is also an occasion to acknowledge the valuable support of WHO’s partners
in fighting the menace of tobacco, WHO has award to a number of organizations and individuals in
recognition of their invaluable efforts against tobacco in their countries. This year’s World No
Tobacco Day award winners from the Eastern Mediterranean Region include the Anti-Smoking
Society of Bahrain and the Lalla Salma