Thank you very much. It is a great honour for me to be here with you at the Second World Congress and Exposition on Child Health 2000, and in particular at the WHO launch of World No-Tobacco Day 1995. I bring to each and every one of you warm and fraternal greetings from the government and the people of the Netherlands, a small country consisting of five islands, who also forms an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Antilles is no exception to the long list of nations where the rising costs of health care is becoming a major problem. In this respect, we join the rest of the world today, May 31st, 1995, World No-Tobacco Day, and focus our attention on the enormous costs that tobacco imposes on our societies. In order to reduce and control these costs, my ministry has adopted a health policy centred around promotion of good health besides the traditional orientation towards the most curative health care. Because we strongly believe that through such policy, we would move more and more towards a society in which we could really achieve health for all based on the principle of equity. As you are well aware of prevention of smoking related diseases, is one of the most efficient ways to avoid human suffering, save lives and reduce health care costs, derived from specialized and sophisticated health care. More in particular we have established a comprehensive anti-addiction policy encompassing the reduction, the banning and control of both legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol and illegal drug consumption and gambling via legislation, education and public awareness. While in the past, most of our efforts have been inspired mainly by an individual approach, today we are increasingly focusing our attention on the rights and interests of the generality of the people. Like our communities, our neighbourhoods and naturally our families.
We have implemented measures to protect the health and well-being of those who do not smoke but are victims of the tobacco industry and involuntarily suffer from smoke produced by others. In this respect, my government has introduced legislation prohibiting smoking in public places, in schools and in daycares. In so doing, we have assumed our responsibility as government to promote health and protect the most vulnerable groups such as the unborn, the children in general and those who suffer from chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma. This responsibility becomes quite inevitable if we consider that the costs of treating and taking care of those groups usually shifts to the government. Likewise we are preparing a bill raising the taxes on tobacco articles, so as to enable us to better cope with the high costs due to tobacco use and to refrain our youth from smoking. Similarly, in trying to strike a balance between individual rights and the rights of a society, our government was obliged to introduce the law for the compulsory treatment of drug addicts who constitute a serious threat both to themselves and to our communities. Since the negative consequences of the use of illicit drugs are undermining our moral, our social, our economic and our public ardor. Needless to say, that our philosophy with regards to the growing number of drug addicts, consists of viewing them as patients and not just as criminals. Therefore, we believe, that in taking them in for compulsory treatment, we will be able to provide them with a more human existence. At the same time we are also protecting the rights of the majority of the people who have been suffering under the power of these addicts. We also hope, that in introducing health education programs we will be able to build a society where everybody will have equal access to information which will allow them to make the proper decisions with regards to their health and well-being and that of their fellow man. As we believe positively in our youth and that they are our future, much of our health education programs will be focused on them.
One day we hope to safeguard their future by introducing health education programs in the school curriculum. My government has already adopted a law that establishes compulsory education up to the age of fifteen while primary and elementary education is completely free. As already indicated in the health education programs directed at the youth, prevention of smoking programs will be part of an alcohol abuse and drug abuse prevention program. Ladies an Gentlemen, today is the fifth anniversary of celebrating the 31st of May as No-Tobacco Day in the Netherlands. I must say that the celebration of this day has met with a positive reaction and enthusiasm from our people. Also a great many initiatives concerning smoking have been implemented since then. Thus stressing the importance of commemorating World No-Tobacco Day. In this respect I want to take the opportunity to draw attention to all the persons and bodies, both public and private, that have been taking up anti-smoking measures often enough voluntarily and most of the time in anonymity. I'm therefore proud to announce that both our national aviation and television companies have adopted anti-smoking policies. There are also many foundations and religious groups that provide education on smoking, organized courses to quit smoking and guide and give comfort to those who may have fallen victims to tobacco addiction. We are well on our way in our endeavour to achieve a tobacco-free society and if I may emphasize it, a tobacco-free global society.
The theme of this year's World No-Tobacco Day is the economics of tobacco. It doesn't take much calculation for us to realize that only by joining forces will we be able to counter balance the mighty and destructive influence of the tobacco empire. In this struggle we will keep looking up to the WHO and the Pan-American Health Organization to lead the way. Finally, the Netherlands is a conglomerate of five small islands in the Caribbean, with a population of less than 200 thousand. So you can hardly imagine how grateful, proud and honoured I am today, to accept on behalf of the people of the Netherlands, this award as a token of recognition by such a prestigious organization, by the WHO, of our efforts to contribute to a smoke-free, a tobacco-free global society. It's very encouraging to note that despite our size, our efforts have not passed unnoticed. On behalf of our people, I thank you all very much and I can assure you that this award will further be a stimulus for us to keep working even harder to achieve our common goal of a tobacco-free child-friendly society.