Labeling the deaths and illness caused by smoking "one of the greatest scandals of our time," World Health Organization (WHO) official Shigeru Omi called on governments to take a tougher stance against the tobacco industry, the AFP reported Sept. 12.

"We hope that all governments will use the [global tobacco] convention to get tough on the tobacco companies," said Omi, WHO's regional director for the western Pacific. Omi credited all 31 WHO member states in his region for ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. "This sets out ways of battling tobacco use through taxes and other measures. Now it's time for all of us to move from commitment to action," he said.

"It is correct to say that tobacco as an industry brings income to countries but one has to do a full economic analysis. You also need to look at the other side of the equation," added WHO director general Margaret Chan. "When you do that full evaluation, I'm sure the damage due to tobacco would be much greater than economic incomes rising from tobacco."