Tuesday, May 18, 1999; 12:20 p.m. EDT

GENEVA (AP) -- Developing countries would save millions of lives without hurting their economies if they adopted a range of measures to control tobacco use, the World Bank said today.

In its report, ``Curbing the Epidemic,'' the organization says governments should look at raising cigarette taxes, banning advertising and providing information on the health risks of smoking.

``Around the world children suffer under the delusion that tobacco makes them appear sophisticated. The cruel truth is, it will kill them,'' said James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, in a statement.

A comprehensive tobacco control policy is unlikely to harm economies or hurt poor farmers, the report said.

``Any loss of tobacco-farming jobs would be over decades or more, not overnight. Adopting sound agricultural and trade policies can help farmers in poor countries compete fairly for the world market,'' the World Bank said in a statement.

Trying to restrict the supply of tobacco, such as by banning it or restricting sale to minors is ineffective and likely to have undesirable consequences, the report said. It adds that it is necessary, however, to take action against smuggling.

The report was issued during the annual meeting of the 191-nation World Health Organization. The governing body, which began its session Monday, is working on a draft world treaty on tobacco control and looking at other ways of reducing smoking.

The World Bank, a global lending institution that aims to reduce poverty and finance investment contributing to economic growth of developing nations, says countries should consider applying taxes on tobacco items which would represent up to four-fifths of the cost of the product.

``Our conservative analyses state that a 10 percent increase in the real price of cigarettes worldwide would ... prevent a minimum of 10 million tobacco-related deaths,'' said Prabhat Jha, who led the report team.

Another 5 million deaths would be prevented by comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising and promotion, the report said.