The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the number of adult tobacco users has fallen steadily in recent years, but warned that Big Tobacco was working hard to reverse the trend.
About one in five adults worldwide will be a smoker or consume other tobacco products by 2022, compared to one in three in 2000, according to the United Nations health agency.
A new report examining trends in the prevalence of tobacco use from 2000 to 2030 finds that 150 countries are successfully reducing tobacco use.
caution
But the WHO warned that while smoking rates are declining in most countries, tobacco-related deaths will remain high for years to come.
According to WHO statistics, it is currently estimated that more than 8 million people die each year due to tobacco use, including approximately 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke.
“Countries that implement strong tobacco control measures can expect to wait approximately 30 years for prevalence rates to shift from increases to decreases and associated death tolls to reverse,” Tuesday’s report said.
Although the number of smokers is steadily decreasing, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it will not achieve its goal of reducing tobacco use by 30% between 2010 and 2025.
Fifty-six countries around the world are expected to meet this target, including Brazil, which has already reduced tobacco use by 35% since 2010.
Tobacco use has increased in six countries since 2010: Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Moldova and Oman.
Overall, the world is expected to reduce tobacco use by a quarter over 15 years by 2025, the report said.
Big cigarettes don't sit still
WHO celebrated the progress made so far but warned that the tobacco industry intends to roll back this.
“There has been good progress on tobacco control in recent years, but there is no time for complacency,” said Ruediger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion.
“I am amazed at the depths the tobacco industry will go to in pursuit of profit at the expense of countless lives,” he said.
“Just when governments think they have won the fight against tobacco, the tobacco industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policy and sell deadly products.”
WHO urged all countries to maintain and strengthen control policies and fight “tobacco industry interference”.
He said there should be a particular focus on collecting better data. Tobacco Use in YouthThis is especially true for so-called lead-free products.
Globally, an average of about 10% of adolescents aged 13 to 15 use one or more types of tobacco, according to the report.
This represents at least 37 million youth, including at least 12 million using new smokeless tobacco products.
However, the report emphasized that this figure is an underestimate as more than 70 countries do not provide data.
“This is concerning because the state needs this data to counter claims by the tobacco and related industries that youth are not being targeted as new customers,” he said.
Available data suggests the industry is attempting to undermine state efforts to dissuade young people from using tobacco products.
“Young people still report using products regularly, having easy access to purchases, and having low concerns about addiction,” the report said.
“Collecting data on young people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices is the most powerful way to form effective policies to combat the industry and prevent the onset of tobacco use.”