10 People Will Perish in the Next Minute from Smoking
Each minute, smokers burn through nearly 11 million cigarettes and 10 perish from the habit – one approximately every six seconds. The United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) have set aside today as World No Tobacco Day. Following are a few facts to consider when measuring the impact of smoking on the world’s population.
How many people smoke?
There are around one billion smokers in the world – one-seventh of the global population – according to WHO and other estimates.
China has the highest number: within its population of 1.3 billion, about 315 million are smokers; and they consume more than a third of the world’s cigarettes, also according to WHO.
Indonesia has the highest proportion of smokers – 76% of the country’s men over 15 are stuck in the habit.
About 80% of the world’s smokers live in low to middle-income countries, and 226 million of them are considered poor.
On the decline?
A study published in The Lancet medical journal, April 2017, found the percentage of people using tobacco every day has dropped in 25 years.
One in four men and one in 20 women smoked daily in 2015, down from one in three men and one in 12 women in 1990. Newest estimates are now showing 1 in 5 people smoke across the general population, or about the same as at the turn of the century.
Reductions in smoking rates in some nations “are almost entirely offset by the increasing consumption in many countries with weaker tobacco control regulations,” says The Tobacco Atlas anti-smoking lobby. These include poorer parts of the world - in particular, sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, Electronic cigarettes have also entered most markets.
Tobacco use has decreased in places such as Australia, Brazil and Britain, where anti-smoking measures include higher taxes, bans and health warnings. France reports a million fewer daily smokers in 2017 over 2016. Ireland and Uruguay are the two countries which have achieved the highest levels of tobacco control.
Since 2007, the number of people around the world to have benefited from stronger regulations has more than quadrupled – up from one billion to five billion.
Tobacco sales have even declined in China, down by 10% from a peak in 2012, according to the Euromonitor International market research group.
A high cost
Still, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death. Active smoking or passive contact kills more than seven million people every year, according to the WHO. Cancers, heart attacks, strokes and lung diseases are the main health concerns associated with tobacco. Over the 20th century, tobacco claimed 100 million lives - more than the 60-80 million deaths during World War II and the 18 million in World War I combined.
At current rates, tobacco could account for up to a billion deaths in the 21st century, the WHO says. Smoking uses up almost 6% of world spending on healthcare as well as nearly 2% of global GDP, according to a January 2017 study in the scientific journal Tobacco Control. This amounted to $1.436 billion globally in 2012, 40% of which is borne by developing countries.
The benefits of quitting
This year, World No Tobacco Day focuses on the multiple ways that exposure to tobacco affects the health of people’s lungs worldwide. These include:
Lung cancer. Tobacco smoking is the primary cause for lung cancer, responsible for over two thirds of lung cancer deaths globally. Second-hand smoke exposure at home or in the workplace also increases risk of lung cancer. Quitting smoking can reduce the risk of lung cancer: after 10 years of quitting smoking, risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker.
Chronic respiratory disease. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition where the build-up of pus-filled mucus in the lungs results in a painful cough and agonizing breathing difficulties. The risk of developing COPD is particularly high among individuals who start smoking at a young age, as tobacco smoke significantly slows lung development. Tobacco also exacerbates asthma, which restricts activity and contributes to disability. Early smoking cessation is the most effective treatment for slowing the progression of COPD and improving asthma symptoms.
Across the life-course. Infants exposed in-utero to tobacco smoke toxins, through maternal smoking or maternal exposure to second-hand smoke, frequently experience reduced lung growth and function. Young children exposed to second-hand smoke are at risk of the onset and exacerbation of asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis, and frequent lower respiratory infections.
Globally, an estimated 60 000 children die before the age of 5 of lower respiratory infections caused by second-hand smoke. Those who live on into adulthood continue to suffer the health consequences of second-hand smoke exposure, as frequent lower respiratory infections in early childhood significantly increase risk of developing COPD in adulthood.
Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB) damages the lungs and reduces lung function, which is further exacerbated by tobacco smoking. About one quarter of the world’s population has latent TB, placing them at risk of developing the active disease. People who smoke are twice as likely to fall ill with TB. Active TB, compounded by the damaging lung health effects of tobacco smoking, substantially increases risk of disability and death from respiratory failure.
Air pollution. Tobacco smoke is a very dangerous form of indoor air pollution: it contains over 7 000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Though smoke may be invisible and odorless, it can linger in the air for up to five hours, putting those exposed at risk of lung cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and reduced lung function.
Goals of the World No Tobacco Day 2019 campaign
The most effective measure to improve lung health is to reduce tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure. But knowledge among large sections of the general public, and particularly among smokers, on the implications for the health of people’s lungs from tobacco smoking and second-hand smoke exposure is low in some countries. Despite convincing evidence of the harms of tobacco on lung health, the potential of tobacco control for improving lung health remains underestimated.
The World No Tobacco Day 2019 campaign will raise awareness on the:
- risks posed by tobacco smoking and second-hand smoke exposure;
- awareness on the particular dangers of tobacco smoking to lung health;
- magnitude of death and illness globally from lung diseases caused by tobacco, including chronic respiratory diseases and lung cancer;
- emerging evidence on the link between tobacco smoking and tuberculosis deaths;
- implications of second-hand exposure for lung health of people across age groups;
- importance of lung health to achieving overall health and well-being;
- feasible actions and measures that key audiences, including the public and governments, can take to reduce the risks to lung health posed by tobacco.
The cross-cutting theme of tobacco and lung health has implications for other global processes, such as international efforts to control noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), TB and air pollution for promoting health. It serves as an opportunity to engage stakeholders across sectors and empower countries to strengthen the implementation of the proven MPOWER tobacco control measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
Call to action
Lung health is not achieved merely through the absence of disease, and tobacco smoke has major implications for the lung health of smokers and non-smokers globally.
In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of a one-third reduction in NCD premature mortality by 2030, tobacco control must be a priority for governments and communities worldwide. Currently, the world is not on track to meeting this target.
Countries should respond to the tobacco epidemic through full implementation of the WHO FCTC and by adopting the MPOWER measures at the highest level of achievement, which involves developing, implementing, and enforcing the most effective tobacco control policies aimed at reducing the demand for tobacco.
Parents and other members of the community should also take measures to promote their own health, and that of their children, by protecting them from the harms caused by tobacco.
Sources:
Hindustan Times
WHO.int
NCI.org
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