And great thing is, its legal.
As of Dec. 1, all vacancy notices include a line stating that the U.N. health agency does not promote tobacco use or recruit smokers, Simpson said. Applicants are asked if they smoke or use other tobacco products, and if they answer "yes," the application process is terminated.Current employees who still smoke or use tobacco products will not be fired. They can't use these products in the workplace but can continue doing so at designated outdoor areas until further notice.
In addressing the possibility of discriminating against the obese and others:
"Tobacco use is the major preventable cause of death in the world, killing nearly 5 million people annually. Tobacco use is addictive," it said.The ban on recruitment of smokers is legal under international law, which governs operations at WHO and other U.N. agencies regardless of location, Simpson explained. The ban, therefore, applies across all the agency's sites, including offices in New York, he said.
When asked whether WHO would soon stop hiring obese people or those drinking alcohol, spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the agency was aware that its new rules "may seem discriminatory or even politically incorrect" to some. But she stressed that WHO needs to align its own employment practices with its principles.
I still can't help but wonder why tobacco use is still legal anywhere. Let's read something again: "Tobacco use is the major preventable cause of death in the world, killing nearly 5 million people annually. Tobacco use is addictive."
It boggles my mind how big tobacco's lobbying money continues to keep tobacco legal. Ephedra-related deaths totaled 155 over a decade and that got the supplement banned. Tobacco is attributed to 5 million deaths annually worldwide and yet children can still easily obtain it. What is wrong with this picture?
I applaud the WHO. Hopefully, this will be the first step of many in getting rid of tobacco all together.
