United Nations Radio

The World Health Organization has decided not to hire people who smoke starting on the first of December.

The United Nations health agency says that it could not ask its Member States to respect the international treaty against tobacco and not apply it to its own personnel. WHO spokeswoman, Fadela Chaib says the agency's job application form now includes a question whether an applicant is a smoker.

"It's a question of honesty between the employee and the organization. We ask them if they smoke, they can also give up smoking two weeks before being selected for example, and they are honest. It's a question of honesty."

The World Health Organization says it will not, however, investigate its employees to discover whether or not they are smokers.