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Deaths from diseases
such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs and malaria are declining while those
induced by tobacco consumption are on the increase.

This was disclosed
at the weekend by Thomas Frieden, director of the Centre for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA, while delivering a lecture
at the 41st Union World Conference on Lung Health in Berlin, Germany. He
said this trend could be reversed if governments across the world take
actions to stem the tide. Among the steps he recommended were the
imposition of heavy tax on cigarettes, adherence to and the
implementation of steps laid out in the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC).

The Framework is the
first health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health
Organisation (WHO). It was adopted by the World Health Assembly seven
years ago and entered into force in 2005. It has since become one of the
most widely embraced treaties in UN history with about 171 parties. Mr
Frieden said it is unfortunate that tobacco has wreaked so much havoc
on the human race when death and illness from it could be curbed. He
advised governments to impose yearly heavy taxes on tobacco industries
as a way of making the commodity expensive and out of the reach of the
people.

According to the
WHO, tobacco is the leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment,
adding that its “use is one of the biggest public health threats the
world has ever faced. It kills more than five million people a year – an
average of one person every six seconds – and accounts for one in 10
adult deaths. Up to half of current users will eventually die of a
tobacco-related disease.” Mr Frieden said all efforts must be made to
reverse this dreadful trend.

Also speaking at
another event at the conference, Nils Billo, Executive Director of the
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union)
made a case for more money to be invested in the fight against
tuberculosis (TB) so as to curb the drug-resistant epidemic of the
disease. He observed that there are increasing reports that TB drugs are
going out of stocks in several countries and this could lead to a
drug-resistant epidemic.

Poor man’s burden

Anthony Harris, an
advisor at The Union said poverty and malnutrition have strong links to
TB and that the poor are usually at greater risks. Lee Reichman, a
professor of medicine at the New Jersey Medical School of Global
Tuberculosis Institute, who described TB as “forgotten but not gone”
disease said the it could be eliminated because its cause was known.
According to him, “More people died from TB last year than any year in
history.” Mr Harris added that in the last 10 years there have been 300
million infections, 90 million cases and over 30 million deaths. He
regretted that TB kills about 1.7million people per year yet not much
attention was being paid to it compared to SARS which killed 813, Avian
influenza (6250), anthrax (5) and small pox which killed no one.

He also said the
cure for TB has remained a sort of mirage due to economic considerations
because it is not a disease that fetches big money.

“Nobody seems to
care. This wouldn’t be tolerated for any other disease. Why does TB
still infect one-third of the world’s population and remain a global
threat despite the fact that highly cost-effective drugs are available
to eradicate it?,” he said.

The ongoing Union World Conference is the largest annual conference
focusing on lung health issues as they affect low and middle-income
countries. It is organised each year by the Paris-based International
Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Some 2,500 delegates from
more than 100 countries are attending.