According to BBC, the authors of the convention believe that it will also hinder cigarette smuggling and protect people from passive smoking.
According to WHO statistics, 5 million people die every year in the world from diseases associated with this harmful habit. According to experts, if tough measures to control smoking are not taken, this figure will grow to 10 million over the next quarter century. "Today's historic step is aimed at saving billions of lives and protecting the health of future generations," said WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland.
The treaty was discussed for four years. Countries with powerful tobacco industries, such as the United States and Germany, called many provisions of the convention unacceptable. The US expressed dissatisfaction with the extremely strict restrictions on advertising and doubted that they would be able to convince cigarette manufacturers to give a third of the pack area to a health warning. China, where a huge tobacco industry is entirely state-owned, expressed doubts that the provisions of the convention could be implemented.