Only 6 percent of world covered by smoking ban in 2008: WHO

"Is it a small number? Yes. Absolutely. Ninety-four percent of the population lives unprotected," WHO Tobacco Initiative Program Manager Dr. Armando Peruga told a press conference here.
The WHO 2009 global tobacco epidemic report, launched on Wednesday, showed that seven countries implemented smoke-free laws in 2008 as part of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), bringing the total number to 17.
"The good news is that it doubled from the previous year," Peruga said. In 2007, only 3.1 percent of the global population was covered by smoking ban laws.
"We are at the beginning of implementation of the Framework," he said. "We hope there will be a domino effect and we hope it will happen soon," he added; Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.news.xinhuanet.com for full version.