WHO warns against smoking upsurge in morocco

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned against an upsurge of smoking in Morocco and the resulting expenses.

The organization's Middle East bureau said in a document issued at the closure of the 12th World Conference on Tobacco in Helsinki, Finland, under the title "economic analysis of tobacco in Morocco" that tobacco sales in the kingdom reached US$ 782 million in 2000.

The persons with the least income are those who spend the most to buy cigarettes, the organization added.

The World Conference on Tobacco or Health, which concluded in Helsinki on Friday, appealed to Governments of all nations to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco, signed earlier this year.

The conference set as a goal getting the framework convention ratified by at least 40 countries by early 2005.

Delegates at the conference believe that the multinational tobacco industry will try to prevent as many countries as possible not to ratify the treaty.

The conference also set as its goal the reduction of smoking in poor countries. Smoking is increasing the most in developing countries where the health consequences are not well known. For instance, in India an estimated 700,000 people die each year of smoking-related diseases.

The conference brought together 2,200 participants from 130 different countries.