WASHINGTON, July 23 /EMWNews/ -- The following is the

Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:



    Michael Bloomberg and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today

announced a truly historic commitment of $500 million to the global fight

against tobacco use, focused on helping governments in developing countries

implement proven policies and programs to reduce tobacco use.



    Today's announcement by Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates highlights

both the devastating scope of the global tobacco epidemic and the fact that

it is entirely preventable if nations seize this opportunity to implement

proven solutions. Mayor Bloomberg and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

are true champions of global health, and they have provided unprecedented

leadership and commitment in fighting tobacco use, the world's leading

cause of preventable death. Their announcement challenges nations to

provide additional resources and take urgent action that can save millions

of lives.



    Today's announcement includes and builds on the $125 million initiative

that Mayor Bloomberg launched in 2006 and is already producing meaningful

progress around the world. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is honored

and grateful to be one of the five implementing organizations for the

Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, along with the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg

School of Public Health, the World Health Organization and the World Lung

Foundation. We look forward to working with our partners, Mayor Bloomberg

and the Gates Foundation to accelerate and expand the progress that has

been made under this initiative.



    Tobacco use killed one hundred million people in the 20th century, and

if current trends continue, it will claim one billion lives in the 21st

century, according to the WHO. Tobacco use already kills 5.4 million people

a year and the epidemic is worsening, especially in the developing world

where more than 80 percent of tobacco-caused deaths will occur in the

coming decades.



    The good news is that we know how to stop this epidemic, and 157

nations have committed themselves to doing so by ratifying the Framework

Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first international

treaty devoted entirely to public health. This treaty provides a road map

for successfully reducing tobacco use if rigorously and fully implemented.



    Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg and the WHO released a report that

identified a package of six cost-effective solutions that are mandated by

the provisions of the FCTC that have been proven to reduce tobacco use and

should be implemented in every nation. Called the MPOWER package, these

solutions require nations to:



    Monitor tobacco use and assess the impact of tobacco prevention and

cessation efforts;



    Protect everyone from secondhand smoke with laws that require

smoke-free workplaces and public places;



    Offer help to every tobacco user to quit;



    Warn and effectively educate every person about the dangers of tobacco

use with strong, pictorial health warnings and hard-hitting, sustained

media campaigns;



    Enact and enforce comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion

and sponsorships and on the use of misleading terms such as "light" and

"low-tar;" and



    Raise the price of tobacco products by significantly increasing tobacco

taxes.



    By implementing many of these solutions under Mayor Bloomberg's

leadership, New York City has shown the world that it is possible to

quickly and dramatically reduce tobacco use. The Bloomberg Initiative has

already contributed to significant progress in implementing these measures

around the world, in countries including China, Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, the

Philippines and Turkey. The additional resources announced today by Mayor

Bloomberg and the Gates Foundation will accelerate the implementation of

these proven solutions and save even more lives.

    About the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Based in Washington, D.C.,

the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a leader in the fight to reduce

tobacco use and its devastating consequences in the United States and

around the world. As part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco

Use, the Campaign works with governments and non-governmental organizations

in promoting and implementing public policies to reduce tobacco use. Visit

http://www.tobaccofreecenter.org.