The number of adults using tobacco worldwide has been steadily declining in recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted on Tuesday, January 16. In 2022, about one in five adults in the world smoked or used tobacco derivatives, compared to one in three at the turn of the millennium, the WHO finds in a new report. Examining trends in tobacco prevalence since 2000 and through 2030 shows that 150 countries have successfully reduced tobacco use.
While smoking rates are falling in most countries, the organization warns that tobacco-related deaths are expected to remain high in the coming years. Its statistics show that smoking kills more than 8 million people every year, including about 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke.
The latency period between implementing strict tobacco control measures and reducing smoking-related deaths is about thirty years, the report highlights. And even if the number of smokers continues to decline, the WHO estimates that the goal of a 30 percent reduction in tobacco consumption between 2010 and 2025 will not be met. However, 56 countries are likely to succeed in this, including Brazil, which has already reduced its tobacco consumption by 35% since 2010.
The tobacco industry does not want to stand idly by
However, six countries have seen an increase in tobacco consumption since 2010: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman and Moldova. Overall, however, the report’s authors estimate that the world is on track to reduce tobacco consumption by a quarter between 2010 and 2025.
However, the WHO warns that the tobacco industry does not want to stand idly by. “Remarkable progress has been made in the fight against tobacco in recent years, but now is not the time for complacency”warned Rüdiger Krech, head of the WHO Department of Health Promotion, in a press release. “I am amazed at the lengths the tobacco industry is willing to go to make profits at the expense of countless lives.”he accused, emphasizing that as soon as a country believes it has won the war against tobacco, the tobacco industry opens a new front.
