The APJPH Supports "World No Tobacco Day".

Every year, on May 31, the World Health Organization (WHO) invites us all to join together to mark World No Tobacco Day.1 On this day, we highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and we pledge to continue working together to advocate for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. The most important public health issue in the Asia-Pacific region continues to be tobacco use.2 Over the years, the journal has published 83 articles on smoking and no doubt this issue has been mentioned in many other articles. Because of the increase in chronic disease, 40% of the tobacco-related articles in the journal have been published in the past 3 years alone. We welcome continued submissions on tobacco; particularly papers on the ways that countries in our region are able to reduce overall smoking rates and the recruitment of teenagers into tobacco addiction. Tobacco companies remain a ruthless opponent in promoting and distributing a deadly product across our region. As they face the prospect of declining profits, they are continually inventing new ways to increase the addiction among children, ethnic groups, and existing users.3 They have consistently opposed the introduction of effective health promotion efforts such as the plain packaging legislation in Australia. They are encouraging countries with tobacco industries to sue Australia, and at the present time Indonesia is one of the countries trying to get the Australian public health legislation reversed.4 The small South American nation of Uruguay has a long history of social support and public health programs that are enshrined in its constitution. Its Congress Hall in Montevideo, itself a work of art dedicated to social values, has at its entrance a statue that includes a mother breastfeeding her infant, a strong symbol of social justice and public health. Uruguay enacted strong antitobacco legislation and because of its limited resources it was targeted by multi-national tobacco companies in the courts. With their multibillion dollar assets it looked as if Uruguay would be forced to back down on its antitobacco stance, but the Bloomberg Foundation came to its defense and is supporting the rights of Uruguayans to live a healthy life.5 The tobacco companies are heavily involved in promoting e-cigarettes despite the increasing evidence of their addictive effects on existing and new users.6,7 Recent reports by the WHO and NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) have rejected claims that e-cigarettes can reduce harm from smoking.8 There is little evidence of benefit and emerging evidence that teenagers who would never have taken up smoking are beginning to use vaporizers.9 The tobacco companies have become innovative in the use of social media on the Internet to promote their deadly wares. They continue to sponsor and undertake “research” in the guise of