UN Agency Defers Action Cutting Ties to Tobacco Industry

Close-up of a woman hands hold and broke a cigarette. Credit: BigstockBy Thalif DeenUNITED NATIONS, Nov 21 2017 (IPS)Back in November 2008, the 193-member General Assembly decided, by consensus, to ban smoking and tobacco sales at the UN headquarters in New York: a ruling observed by all affiliated agencies worldwide, including the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) which has severed links with the tobacco industry. But there still remains one holdout: the 187-member International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva whose Governing Body, which meets three times a year, has postponed once again its decision on whether or not to cut ILO’s ties with the tobacco industry.The executive body’s deliberations remained deadlocked at a meeting in early November resulting in a second postponement of a decision to sever ties with an industry, whose products are responsible for killing some seven million people per year from lung cancer and heart disease.Mark Hurley, International Director of Tobacco Industry Campaigns, told IPS it is disappointing that ILO has postponed a decision on whether to end its relationship with tobacco companies.The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, he said, strongly urges the ILO to cut ties with tobacco companies and prohibit all members of the tobacco industry from participation in the ILO when the decision is revisited in March 2018 at the 332nd Session of the Governing Body in Geneva.He said tobacco companies that spread death and disease across...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Global Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news