Michael Bloomberg, the Gateses tackle big tobacco globally

NEW YORK, March 18 (UPI) -- Bill Gates and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have pledged $4 million to target big tobacco in countries where the effort to reduce smoking has been hampered by costly legal fees.

Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched the effort to give these countries legal experts to help write legislation and defend against lawsuits brought by major tobacco countries.

"We are at a critical moment in the global effort to reduce tobacco use, because the significant gains we have seen are at risk of being undermined by the tobacco industry's use of trade agreements and litigation," Bloomberg said. "We will stand with nations as they work to protect their populations against the deadly health effects of tobacco use."

Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, called it an "ominous trend" that in some countries the battle between tobacco and health has moved into the court system.

"Governments wishing to protect their citizens through larger pictorial warnings on cigarette packs or by introducing plain packaging are being intimidated by industry's threats of lengthy and costly litigation," she said. "This is an effort to deprive governments of their sovereign right to legislate in the public interest. We will push back hard."

Both Chan and Bloomberg were scheduled to speak at the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Abu Dhabi this week.

"Country leaders who are trying to protect their citizens from the harms of tobacco should not be deterred by threats of costly legal challenges from huge tobacco companies," Bill Gates said. "Australia won its first case, which sends a strong message. But smaller, developing countries don't have the same resources. That's why we are supporting the Anti-Tobacco Trade Litigation Fund with Bloomberg Philanthropies."

According to WHO, tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, up to half of its users over time. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use, while the remainder are from second-hand smoke exposure.

The annual death toll from tobacco could rise to more than eight million by 2030.

Nearly 80 percent of the world's one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.