“Tobacco will kill nearly six million people this year, including 600,000 non-smokers, because governments are not doing enough to persuade people to quit or protect others from second-hand smoke, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday,” which was observed as World No Tobacco Day, Reuters/Toronto Sun reports (Kelland, 5/31).

According to a press release, WHO recognized the successes of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which has been signed by 172 countries and the European Union since its adoption by the World Health Assembly in 2003, but also acknowledged that “challenges remain for the public health treaty to reach its full potential as the world’s most powerful tobacco control tool.” Tobacco use is one of the largest factors in the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases, including heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema, which account for 63 percent of all deaths, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, the release states (5/30).