One hundred countries representing 4.5 billion people have signed the global treaty aimed at curbing tobacco use, which now claims nearly 5 million lives every year and causes an estimated annual net loss of $200 billion in treatment and lost productivity, the United Nations health agency WHO reported March 25.

With the signatures of Ecuador and the Republic of Congo, 100 countries and the European Community have now signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The convention, unanimously adopted by the 192 World Health Organization members in May 2003, requires countries to ban tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, set new labeling and clean indoor air controls standards, and strengthen tobacco smuggling legislation.

Nine countries have ratified the convention so far. It will enter into force and become legally binding 90 days after the 40th ratification or equivalent instrument. Countries failing to sign the document before the June 29 end of the signature period can join later through accession.

WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook praised the signatories for protecting their populations from tobacco-related diseases. He called on all remaining nations to sign the Convention, the first international treaty negotiated under WHO auspices, and on all signatories who have not yet ratified it to do so. The FCTC will enter into force and become legally binding 90 days after the 40th ratification. So far nine countries have ratified it. Three months remain before the end of the signature period. After that, nations can directly adopt the treaty as law without having signed it in a process called “accession.”

At the time of its unanimous adoption in last May by WHO’s 192 members, the agency warned that the annual death toll of 4.9 million, if left unchecked, could double by 2020.

The tobacco epidemic is still expanding, especially in developing countries where currently seven out of every 10 tobacco-related deaths occur, according to WHO. At current rates, the total number of tobacco users is expected to rise to 1.7 billion by 2025 from 1.3 billion now.

The European Community (EC) has also signed the treaty as a regional economic integration organization, while its member states sign and ratify the treaty individually.

A printable version of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is available on the Internet:

http://www.who.int/tobacco/areas/framework/final_text/en/