The theme of the fifth World No-Tobacco Day, May 31, 1992, is
"Tobacco-Free Workplaces: Safer and Healthier." Each year, the
objectives of World No-Tobacco Day are to encourage governments,
communities, and groups worldwide to become aware of the hazards of
tobacco use and to encourage all persons who use tobacco to quit
for at least 24 hours.
World No-Tobacco Day 1992 will emphasize the right to work in
a smoke-free environment and the need to coordinate appropriate
actions by governments, employees, and employers. Activities will
include press releases, a video on smoke-free workplaces, and radio
announcements by World Health Organization (WHO) experts on tobacco
control.
The theme for World No-Tobacco Day 1991, "Public Places and
Transport: Better Be Tobacco-Free," emphasized the right of all
persons to breathe smoke-free air (1). WHO's Tobacco or Health
Program documented a variety of activities associated with World
No-Tobacco Day, in both developed and developing countries,
including a campaign to prohibit smoking on international airline
flights (European press conference held by Belgium, France, Italy,
Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom); a special
documentary film on the theme of the day broadcast on national
television (Algeria); distribution of information in public places
and airports urging persons not to smoke and reminding them of
existing clean indoor air laws (Brazil); and seminars on the health
hazards of smoking and an exhibition of antismoking materials
(Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea) (2).
Reported by: Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.
Editorial Note
Editorial Note: Since 1985, the number of countries that have
enacted laws restricting smoking in public places has increased
dramatically (2). Preliminary data from WHO indicate that more than
half of the countries in the world have laws to control tobacco use
in public places: 33% have protection in entertainment
establishments, such as theaters and cinemas; health services are
protected in 40% of the countries; 33% have laws involving schools,
colleges, and other government facilities; and 20% have workplace
smoking policies (3). In addition, in 30 countries, flights on all
or most domestic routes are smoke free, and in more than 70
countries, buses or trains are smoke free or have smoke-free areas
(2). In the Americas, 19 countries restrict smoking in public
places; seven countries ban smoking in the workplace, and 13 ban
smoking in health establishments (4).
In the United States, the growing evidence linking exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke to disease in nonsmokers has led to an
increase in clean indoor air legislation at the state and local
levels (5). As of April 30, 1992, 44 states and the District of
Columbia had instituted some form of smoking restriction in public
places (CDC, unpublished data, 1992). The proportion of workplaces
in the United States reporting smoking policies has also increased
dramatically during the past 5 years. In 1992, 85% of employers had
workplace smoking policies, compared with 54% in 1987 (6). Findings
in a recent survey in 10 U.S. communities also indicate a high
level of public support, even among smokers, for limiting smoking
in a wide range of locations: 82%-100% of smokers and 90%-100% of
all respondents supported limiting smoking in restaurants, private
worksites, government buildings, indoor sports arenas, hospitals,
and doctors' offices (7).
In the United States, the national health objectives for the
year 2000 specify the need for restrictions on smoking in public
places and include establishment of tobacco-free environments. In
addition, the objectives include employing tobacco-use prevention
in the curricula of all elementary, middle, and secondary schools,
preferably as part of quality school health education (objective
3.10); increasing to at least 75% the proportion of worksites with
a formal smoking policy that prohibits or severely restricts
smoking at the workplace (objective 3.11); and enacting in the 50
states comprehensive laws on clean indoor air that prohibit or
strictly limit smoking in the workplace and enclosed public places
(including health-care facilities, schools, and public
transportation) (objective 3.12) (8). The enactment of clean indoor
air legislation has been recommended as a key component of tobacco
control worldwide (9).
Additional information about World No-Tobacco Day is available
from Richard Leclair, Office of Information and Public Affairs, Pan
American Health Organization; telephone (202) 861-3457; or the
Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC; telephone (404) 488-5705.
References
CDC. World No-Tobacco Day, 1991. MMWR 1991;40:341-2.
World Health Organization. World No-Tobacco Day--31 May 1992
(Press packet). Geneva: World Health Organization, 1992.
Roemer R. Legislative action to combat the world tobacco
epidemic. 2nd edition. Geneva: World Health Organization (in
press).
CDC. Smoking and health in the Americas: a 1992 report of the
Surgeon General, in collaboration with the Pan American Health
Organization. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, CDC, 1992; DHHS publication no.
(CDC)92-8419.
CDC. State tobacco prevention and control activities: results of
the 1989-1990 Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
(ASTHO) Survey final report. MMWR 1991;40 (no. RR-11):18-9.
Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. SHRM-BNA survey no. 55--smoking
in the workplace: 1991. In: Bulletin to management. Washington, DC:
Bureau of National Affairs, Inc, August 29, 1991. (BNA Policy and
Practice series).
CDC. Public attitudes regarding limits on public smoking and
regulation of tobacco sales and advertising--10 U.S. communities,
1989. MMWR 1991;40:344-5,351-3.
Public Health Service. Healthy people 2000: national health
promotion and disease prevention objectives--full report, with
commentary. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, 1991; DHHS publication no.
(PHS)91-50212.
Pierce JP. Progress and problems in international public health
efforts to reduce tobacco usage. Annu Rev Public Health
1991;12:383-400.
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