American Cancer Society recognizes international tobacco contr...( ATLANTA December 11 2008 The Ameri...),Health

ATLANTA December 11, 2008 The American Cancer Society announced today the winners of the 2009 Luther L. Terry Awards for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control. The awards are named for the late United States Surgeon General Luther L. Terry, M.D., who led the landmark 1964 Surgeon General's Report which connected tobacco use to lung cancer and other illnesses. Dr. Terry's courageous and groundbreaking work established the foundation for public health scrutiny of the dangers of tobacco use. The awards are presented triennially the initial awards were presented at the 11th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 2000, with subsequent awards presentations at the 12th and 13th World Conferences on Tobacco OR Health in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

"Given the momentum of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), currently ratified by 161 countries including Costa Rica, Croatia, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Nepal, and the growing global movement to combat unprecedented and aggressive worldwide tobacco marketing tactics, the timeliness of recognizing these achievers' contributions is particularly relevant," said chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, John R. Seffrin, Ph.D.

"As reported by the WHO, there are approximately 1.3 billion smokers in the world one-third of the global population aged 15 years and older," Seffrin continued. "Eventually, 650 million of them will die from smoking. This number exceeds the expected number of deaths from HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, automobile accidents, maternal mortality, homicide, and suicide combined."

This year's awards will be presented in six categories: Distinguished Career, Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry, Outstanding Individual Leadership, Outstanding Organization, Outstanding Research Contribution, and Outstanding Community Service. These awards will recognize outstanding wor
'/>"/>