World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan on Wednesday called for worldwide efforts to drive tobacco companies "out of business", and also spoke highly of the progress made in the anti-smoking campaign.
At the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Dubai, Chan said that the world should work together to stub out tobacco companies and their dangerous products altogether.
"It's going to be a tough fight but we should not give up until we make sure that the tobacco industry goes out of business," she said.
Chan also mentioned that many countries have taken effective moves to deal with the smoking problem, referring to the latest WHO report showing that the proportion of men who smoke is going down in 125 countries.
In addition, she praised measures taken by Australia, Ireland, and Britain to introduce plain cigarette packaging.
"Largely thanks to legislative measures, smoking has plummeted in several countries," Chan told the meeting. The WHO chief called for similar action by other nations.