¡¡¡¡MANILA, Oct. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The South Pacific island nation of Fiji has become the first developing country in the world to ratify the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global agreement designed to reduce the devastating health and economic impact of cigarette smoking, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

¡¡¡¡Shigeru Omi, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific, described Fiji's decision as "a landmark achievement that will serve as an inspiration to the world."

¡¡¡¡"I hope this brave action provides a model to all countries struggling with the burden of death and disease caused by tobacco use, but especially those with developing economies. Now the hard work begins for Fiji, but the foundation has been put in place," Omi was quoted as saying in a WHO statement.

¡¡¡¡A spokesman for the Fijian government said that Fiji viewed the agreement as "a global initiative of great public-health importance." Fiji is the third country, after Norway and Malta, to ratify the treaty.

¡¡¡¡Fiji, with a population of less than 900,000, is typical of small countries struggling with the burden of death and disease caused by tobacco use. Over half of all men and a quarter of womensmoke. In addition, a quarter of all physicians and young males are smokers.

¡¡¡¡Tobacco is responsible for an estimated 3,000 deaths per day inthe Western Pacific. As a risk to health it ranks first among the developed countries and third among developing ones. Worldwide, tobacco now accounts for 9 percent of all deaths.

¡¡¡¡The FCTC is a legally binding treaty negotiated by the 192 WHO members. As the world's first public health treaty, it provides the basic tools for its members to enact comprehensive tobacco-control legislation.

¡¡¡¡Final agreement on the FCTC was reached at a gathering of the World Health Assembly, WHO's governing body, in Geneva in May thisyear, after nearly four years of negotiations.

¡¡¡¡As of mid October, 10 other WHO member states in the Western Pacific Region had signed the FCTC -- a first step to ratification.

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¡¡¡¡These countries are Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palau, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Samoa,Tonga and Vietnam. Enditem

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