Every eight seconds someone dies as a result of tobacco - we are fighting a war

Gro Harlem Brundtland WHO Director-General

In its latest report, presented at a major anti-smoking conference in Warsaw, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said some 38% of men and 23% of women now smoked in Europe.

But in the poorer Central and Eastern countries, male smoking rates - at over 50% - far exceeded the regional average.

WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland told delegates that European Union directives on marketing and taxation had helped decrease smoking in several Western countries, particularly in Italy and Denmark.

The West's growing preoccupation with individual health and exercise was also cited as a contributory factor.

"East European countries are lagging behind," she said.

Aggressive marketing pursued by tobacco companies since communism collapsed, combined with the hardships brought on by the transition, had contributed to a general increase across the region, said the director.

Smoking rates among women in Albania, one of Europe's poorest states, more than doubled between 1994 and 2001. And in the considerably richer Hungary, a front-runner for EU membership, smoking among men was up from 44% to 53%.

'Uncool'

Addressing the conference, EU commissioner David Byrne attacked the notion that adults should be left to make up their own minds as to whether to smoke or not.

Brundtland did praise the efforts of her host, Poland

"This is not a consumer choice issue," he said. "We all know how real consumer choice is for the addict - none more so that the addiction industry."

Mr Byrne said the commission would propose new laws before 2005 dictating which ingredients were acceptable in cigarettes, in the hope of removing substances which made the taste of tobacco more palatable.

It is also planning an anti-smoking media campaign, aimed primarily at young people, which Mr Byrne said would "try to make smoking uncool".

The WHO said that in addition to advertising blackouts, it also wanted to see higher taxes on tobacco products, describing this as "one of the most effective components of a comprehensive tobacco control policy".

Declaration

Critics, however, denounce this policy as essentially a tax on the poor, arguing that cigarettes are smoked disproportionately by the poorer sections of society.

They also note that regular tax rises slapped on tobacco in the UK, where cigarettes are among the most expensive in Europe, have done little to dent smoking rates over recent years.

The conference ended with a declaration backing the WHO's push for a global anti-tobacco treaty in 2003.

The "Warsaw Declaration for a Tobacco-Free Europe" also commits the WHO's European members to using advertising bans, smoking bans and higher taxes to combat the use of tobacco.