Issued by: Department of Health
Find the attached herewith a media statement which was released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the occasion of the Presentation of the "Tobacco Free World Award" to Dr Zuma (Minister of Health - South Africa) at the World Health Assembly held in Geneva at 08:30 on Monday, 17 1999
Dr. Nkozasana Dhlamini Zuma, Health Minister of South Africa was honoured by the world's premier health agency in Geneva today for her ground-breaking work in the field of tobacco control.
Presenting the "Tobacco Free World Award" to Dr. Zuma, the World Health Organisation's Director General! Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland said South Africa's efforts to rein in the tobacco industry and focus on controlling the tobacco pandemic would send a clear message to the rest of the world that tobacco deaths are an unnecessary burden of disease on individuals and countries.
"We congratulate you on your work - you have strengthened our hands and given hope to many countries" Dr. Brundtland said as she handed over the certificate to Dr. Zuma.
Receiving the Award, Dr. Zuma said, "This honour will give us encouragement to continue with our efforts to protect the people and especially the children of South Africa against the hazards posed by tobacco consumption."
South African President Nelson Mandela recently signed legislation developed by Dr. Zuma that will protect children from tobacco advertising and exposure to tobacco smoke. The country's new tobacco laws also prohibit smoking in public places and ban all forms of materials that promote tobacco.
As they developed their national legislation South African health officials said, it became clear to them that they were involved in a public-health driven process that touched on all aspects of people's lives. The WHO says the tobacco pandemic is a public health disaster waiting to happen and a mix of policies ranging from taxation to advertising bans and control of smuggling can stem if not reverse that tide.
Dr. Zuma and Hubert Humphrey III, the farmer governor of the state of Minnesotta are among the recipients of the 1999 awards which salute individual and institutional tobacco control efforts. "Skip" Humphrey led the way in the USA against the tobacco industry by successfully taking the major tobacco multinationals to court. He will travel to Geneva for the World No Tobacco Day that is celebrated on May 31 every year.
Tobacco now kills 4 million people per year. In the first quarter of the next century, tobacco could kill 10 million people per year, over seventy percent of them in the developing world. This autumn WHO hopes to begin work on a global treaty the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - to focus on the health, economic, and social aspects of tobacco. Support for the Convention process is growing with countries from the developing and developed world calling for early negotiations and a swift conclusion.
Date 17 May 1999
Contact: Khangelani Hlongwane
Phone: 082 557 0978
Fax: 012 325 7813/4