Outcomes of the ECOSOC 2006 substantive session
WHO/TFI organized a lunchtime seminar during the General Segment of the Substantive Session of ECOSOC on 21 July 2006 to raise awareness among ECOSOC Members about the dangers of exposure to tobacco smoke. During the seminar a number of topics related to exposure to tobacco smoke were addressed, in particular the issue of tobacco smoking in the workplaces from the occupational health aspect and from the ILO's standpoint, a review of WHO recommendations on smoke free areas and the link between measures to protect from tobacco smoke exposure and provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Following the seminar and the presentation of the Secretary-General's report to ECOSOC on the activities of the Task Force, the Members of ECOSOC unanimously adopted a resolution on smoke-free United Nations premises which recommends that the United Nations General Assembly considers at its sixty-first session implementing a complete ban on smoking at all United Nations indoor premises, including Headquarters and all regional and country offices. The resolution includes implementing at the same time a complete ban on sales of tobacco products at all United Nations premises.
The ECOSOC also adopted a Decision on the Report of the Secretary-General on the Ad Hoc Inter-Agency Task Force on Tobacco Control requesting the Secretary-General to submit a report on the work of the Task Force to the Council at its Substantive Session of 2008.