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   GENEVA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Only six percent of the world's population was covered by smoking bans in 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday.

    "Is it a small number? Yes. Absolutely. Ninety-four percent of the population lives unprotected," WHO Tobacco Initiative Program Manager Dr. Armando Peruga told a press conference here.

    The WHO 2009 global tobacco epidemic report, launched on Wednesday, showed that seven countries implemented smoke-free laws in 2008 as part of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), bringing the total number to 17.

    "The good news is that it doubled from the previous year," Peruga said. In 2007, only 3.1 percent of the global population was covered by smoking ban laws.

    "We are at the beginning of implementation of the Framework," he said. "We hope there will be a domino effect and we hope it will happen soon," he added.

    The FCTC, adopted at the 2003 World Health Assembly, went into force in February 2005. Legally binding, the framework has been signed by 168 countries.

    "The purpose of this report is to track progress toward implementing measures from the framework (FCTC) and to help make it a reality," Peruga said.

    Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death, killing more than five million people per year. Unless urgent action is taken, the WHO warned, the annual death toll could rise to eight million by 2030.

    The Geneva-based WHO was formed in 1948 and has 193 members.