BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Commission (news - web sites) made a joint call on Thursday for tough anti-smoking measures and stressed the importance of international negotiations due to start in Geneva in October.

``We are committed to strengthening European and global tobacco control. In doing so we restate the need for all governments to not support measures that subsidise, advertise or glamorise tobacco products,'' European Health Commissioner David Byrne and WHO Director General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland said in a statement.

``We do so in order to protect the health of current and future generations,'' they said.

Negotiations for the creation of a WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco control will start in Geneva on October 16. The convention is expected to cover areas such as cross-border advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco as well as product regulation and smoking prevention.

``In the European Union alone, over 500,000 deaths per year are caused by tobacco consumption while globally 4 million die annually from tobacco,'' the statement said.

(From Yahoo)