Ministers meet for anti-smoking talks

Health ministers from 35 countries were meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, today, to discuss international efforts to curb smoking.

The ministers, who will deliver a communique on Thursday, were expected to back a World Health Organisation move to set up the first international treaty against the consumption of tobacco products.

Geneva-based WHO says four million people die each year from tobacco related diseases, and is promoting a global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which the United Nations health agency wants ratified and in place by 2003.