Former WHO experts backed on view on harm reduction

A FILIPINO doctor who heads a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that seeks to spread awareness of the dangers of smoking supported two former officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) for identifying the "missing link" in the global tobacco policy amid the slow decline in the number of smokers in most countries.

Professors Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita asked the medical journal The Lancet on May 14 to endorse tobacco harm reduction as a crucial strategy for reducing the health burden caused by tobacco and back calls for an independent review of WHO's tobacco control policies.