World "No Tobacco" Day is celebrated on May 31, this year it is held under the slogan "We need food, not tobacco."
The World Health Organization draws attention to the fact that growing tobacco harms the health of workers in the industry, and also hinders attempts to replace tobacco with other crops, contributing to the aggravation of the global food crisis. This year, the WHO campaign is designed to convince governments to end tobacco subsidies and use the savings to support agribusinesses in their transition to more sustainable crops that improve food security and improve people's nutrition. WHO invites governments to eliminate subsidies for growing tobacco crops to reduce the scale of tobacco growing; Raise awareness of the population involved in tobacco growing about the importance of the transition to the cultivation of crops, etc. Today, tobacco is grown in more than 120 countries of the world, this crop occupies millions of hectares of fertile land. In Moldova, over the past 30 years, the tobacco production sector has been in decline, although until the 1990s, tobacco was grown on vast areas. Today, this crop covers only about 300 hectares. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry has announced that it is exploring opportunities to revive the industry, and tobacco manufacturers and processors have taken the initiative to subsidize the industry and increase production. The Ministry of Health of Moldova criticizes this initiative and warns that tobacco, from growing processes to consumption, represents a significant burden associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Every year, it causes the death of 8 million people in the world. In Moldova, more than 6,000 people die each year due to tobacco use and related diseases. According to the Global Adolescent Smoking Survey 2019 and the National Risk Factors Survey (STEPS 2021), in our country, 3 out of 10 adults aged 18 to 69 are active smokers, and these rates are increasing, especially among adolescents - due to increased consumption of new tobacco products (electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products). At the same time, Moldova, as a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, is taking sanitary, economic and educational measures to control tobacco.// 31.05.2023 — InfoMarket
