The agreement, the first global public health measure ever approved, intends to reduce the estimated five million smoking-related deaths each year.

Member states have agreed to introduce strict curbs on the advertising, marketing and sale of tobacco products within five years.

Will WHO's anti-smoking treaty work? What can be done to reduce cigarette smoking, especially in the developing world?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

Taking away an individual's "right to choose" sounds pretty frightening to me! Another "right to choose" is currently being threatened in the US and I wonder how far the "law makers" will go? What else can they dictate to us? How many other "dangerous" behaviours will they eliminate? Anyone that understands addiction knows that if it's not tobacco it will be another substance. The problem lies in the attitude related to the addiction not the substance. Addictions can be overcome with psychology not laws! Remember Prohibition? When too many rights are taken away from people, they either become angry or apathetic. Are either one of these feelings helpful within a society? Time will tell.
Elena Jacinto, USA

Reading all these comments I see a number of people complaining about their "right to smoke" being eroded. What about my right to breath fresh air? Smokers have no hesitation in lighting up without thinking about other people and it's time that they considered people other than themselves. I'm forty and have never smoked but I seriously doubt that I have ever gone for a single day without breathing in someone's second hand smoke. I have no objection to someone smoking themselves to death (they do not care about me, why should I care about them ), I just don't want to be included in it.
Norman Smith, Scotland

I'm not convinced the WHO treaty will work Jenny, Scotland

My trials and tribulations over trying to give up one of the few pleasures left in my life have convinced my son never to smoke, for which I'm very thankful and very proud of him. However, I'm not convinced the WHO treaty will work - governments need the revenue smokers contribute to taxes and for many people who have little hope smoking may give them pleasure in a world that increasingly erodes our basic freedoms.
Jenny, Scotland

I think this is a great decision by the WHO. The marketing of tobacco should be regulated more, especially in Third World countries to which tobacco companies are aiming.
Jaime, USA

We are bombarded with facts which prove smoking is deadly, and those who choose to smoke are well aware of the facts. What we don't need are "nanny" states and organisations arbitrarily enforcing their will on the rest of us. I don't smoke, but I figure those who do should be left alone, as long as their habit doesn't interfere with the rest of us.
Peter, Alberta, Canada

I cannot hold a discussion with smoking friends without them having to go outside to enjoy a cigarette every so often Geoff Simmons, Thailand

I am happy for WHO to promote non-smoking and inform people of the inherent dangers. However I am absolutely against governments totally banning smoking in bars and restaurants. I do not smoke but find it very annoying that I cannot now hold a discussion with smoking friends in such places without them having to go outside to enjoy a cigarette every so often. It is fine to ban smoking in the workplace, public buildings and transport but not in bars and restaurants, where smoking is an accepted part of the pleasurable experience. At least it should be up to the management of each place to set (and clearly advertise) their own policy.
Geoff Simmons, Thailand

What nonsense. Trying to prevent smoking when millions are starving and others destined to die of malaria. Get the priorities right!
Barry, UK

The treaty will not work in Africa because the African governments rake in a lot of money from these companies in form of taxes and secondly they employ thousands of people directly - not forgetting the tobacco farmers who depend on the crop as their sole source of income. Unless the governments of these countries get alternative sources of income I think they will be reluctant to enforce the anti-tobacco treaty.
James Otieno, Kenya

Advertising is everywhere Mark Buckton, Japan

Here in Japan half of all men smoke. Reports say 70% of high school boys have tried it and 30% of underage kids regularly light up. Advertising is everywhere, vending machines prevent shops refusing service to juveniles and cigarette packets carry a warning merely not to smoke too much as it might damage our health. 'Might!' Whilst the WHO treaty makes total sense perhaps it should not just be the Third World and poorer nations we focus on.
Mark Buckton, Japan

As long as governments make millions from the taxes collected on tobacco and alcohol, there is no way they will ban these products.
Brian, Canada.

It is great! The treaty is a pioneering effort that can help billions of people around the world to live a healthy life.
Dilli Ram Pokhrel, Nepal

It is ultimately my decision whether or not I choose to smoke K. Wikman, Sweden

You cannot and, more importantly, should not force people into not doing something that they want to do. Even if it kills me, it is ultimately my decision whether or not I choose to smoke. I understand if people who don't smoke do not want to inhale the smoke that I breath, but, the decision is still mine.
K. Wikman, Sweden

The sale of tobacco products is legal and no-one, least of all the WHO, is saying it should be otherwise. Governments have decided we are all to stupid and easily led to take responsibility for our own lives. This is deeply patronising, and sets a dangerous precedent for further erosion of basic freedoms, such as freedom of speech.
Dave, Scotland

I think it's a measure very much overdue. While people in the developed world are made aware of the dangers, most people in so-called Third World countries are basically unaware of the dangers. If this treaty is to have any effect, there must be a concerted effort to follow through with intensive awareness campaigns.
Leo, USA

Is tobacco use really a significant problem? Jacob Stansbury, Jr, US

With the US administration continuing its global military conquests, Aids killing millions of people a year and the "War on Drugs" an ongoing disaster, is tobacco use really a significant problem? Would not the money and efforts spent demonizing tobacco be better spent on the real problems the peoples of the world face today?
Jacob Stansbury, Jr, US

The decision to smoke is a conscious one, and the government has no business sticking its nose into it. How about they use their resources to influence these countries to import food, and not tobacco?
Jason, NC, US

The treaty doesn't go far enough. There doesn't appear to be any attempt to better educate people about the dangers of smoking, only an attempt to prevent access. This will only encourage people to seek it out.
Adam Dudley, England

I think what people tend to forget about smoking is that you don't just hurt yourself, but anyone who is near enough to breath the toxic smoke that you produce. Individual rights should be respected, but smokers violate non-smokers' rights every time they light up in their company. We need to stop the madness. Smoking costs lives and puts a huge constrain on our healthcare resources!
SSC, UK

Why not print the list of ingredients that go into a cigarette? Deborah, UK

Instead of warning signs on packets of cigarettes - why not print the list of ingredients that go into a cigarette? I think if people knew exactly what they were inhaling - including the various poisons - it would serve a better purpose than telling people what they already know.
Deborah, UK

In answer to Deborah's question: There isn't enough room! I asked a friend who used to work at BAT in Southampton to make and smuggle out an extra copy of the ingredient list which he had to copy that day. He said he couldn't as it was over an inch thick - and that was the summary version!
Justin, UK

Now that this has been set up when do we get an anti-drink treaty? Yes smoking kills, but so does alcohol.
E. Sloan, UK

In more developed countries, governments will always take an anti-smoking stance in principle, but not in practice. An anti-smoking policy is popular with voters. But in practise no government wishes to lose the substantial tax revenue it gains on tobacco sales, therefore co-operation with WHO's anti-smoking treaty will be half-hearted at best. As for the developing world, they have more immediate and pressing concerns than smoking.
Sarah Whitehead, UK

It's a great day. Let's ensure that the global tobacco industry is not successful in their attempts to scuttle the process of eliminating the scourge of tobacco from the surface of the world. Well done WHO.
Yasantha Kodagoda, Sri Lanka

Is it really right to refuse people their freedom of choice? Bernard, UK

As an ex-smoker who occasionally indulges, I find myself very much on the fence on this question! While I appreciate having most public places non-smoking, is it really right to refuse people their freedom of choice - where does it end? Will the WHO next take on sugar consumption, caffeine, alcohol, red meat etc? I support that those who choose to smoke take full responsibility for their choice, eg they have to pay the increased health costs, but removal of choice is fundamentally against human rights. Also, many around the world are dependent on the tobacco industry for their livelihood, is the WHO going to compensate them all?
Bernard, UK

I think that it is important to take a global approach to anti-smoking efforts. Tobacco companies won't really have to change as long as they have new markets to enter. Putting the same sort of restrictions on the global market will force change within the tobacco giants. I don't think that smoking will ever disappear, but if we can limit the number of people attracted to it, so much the better.
Kym, The Netherlands

I live in Germany where almost 50% of people smoke. There is no "no smoking area" in restaurants and pubs and I hate having someone puffing down my back when I want to enjoy a nice meal. Cigarettes are only one third the price they are in the UK because of low tax and they are advertised on TV and cinemas often. I hope this WHO treaty will make a difference so that people who don't want to smoke, don't have to.
Harry, Germany ex-UK