International Campaign for a Smoke-free Childhood
February 4, 2008 was World Cancer Day. The theme of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) for this year is “Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s World.” On World Cancer Day, the UICC launched a new campaign on behalf of the world’s children called “I love my smoke-free childhood.” Nearly half of the world’s children are exposed to the air pollution and toxins of tobacco smoke, especially at home. The message to parents in this campaign is there are no safe levels of second-hand smoke exposure for them or their children. They should give their children a smoke-free childhood.
Among the 7 key objectives are raising pubic awareness through a global media campaign and local media coverage, working with organizations that could serve as catalysts for changing the smoking culture, and increasing the motivations to quit smoking.
There are plans to generate an internationally-recognized “No-smoking environment for children” symbol. They will have toolkits for teachers and smoking cessation resources for parents. For more information about this campaign, visit their website at World Cancer Day Promotes Smoke-free Childhood.
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