A new revelation has been made about the large number of people who die every year just because of the use of tobacco.
Tobacco
Up to about six million people are said to die annually as a result
of tobacco use, with most living in developing countries, a report on
Leadership has shown.
Also, findings published in ‘The economics of tobacco and tobacco
control’, revealed that around 80 per cent of the world’s smokers live
in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) assistant director-general
for Non communicable Diseases (NCDs) and mental health, Dr Oleg
Chestnov, stated that the economic impact of tobacco on countries, and
the general public is huge, quoting a new landmark global report from
WHO and the National Cancer Institute of the United States of America.
Chestnov said, “The tobacco industry produces and markets
products that kill millions of people prematurely, rob households of
finances that could have been used for food and education, and impose
immense healthcare costs on families, communities and countries.
“Globally, there are 1.1 billion tobacco smokers aged 15 or
older, with around 80% living in low- and middle-income countries
(LMICs). Approximately 226 million smokers live in poverty.”
He said in the landmark report that policies to control tobacco
use, including tobacco tax and price increases can generate significant
government revenues for health and development work.
“Such measures can also greatly reduce tobacco use and protect
people’s health from the world’s leading killers, such as cancers and
heart disease.”
The economics of tobacco and tobacco control, however, noted that
left unchecked, the tobacco industry and the deadly impact of its
products cost the world’s economies more than US$ 1 trillion annually in
healthcare expenditures and lost productivity.
The monograph, citing a 2016 study, states that annual excise
revenues from cigarettes globally could increase by 47%, or US$ 140
billion, if all countries raised excise taxes by about US$ 0.80 per
pack.
Additionally, this tax increase would raise cigarette retail prices
on average by 42%, leading to a 9% decline in smoking rates and up to
66 million fewer adult smokers.
“The research summarized in this monograph confirms that
evidence-based tobacco control interventions make sense from an economic
as well as a public health standpoint,” says the monograph’s
co-editor, Distinguished Professor Frank Chaloupka, of the Department of
Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The monograph’s major conclusions include, effective policy and
programmatic interventions to reduce demand for tobacco products and the
death, disease, and economic costs resulting from their use, though
these interventions are underused.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) provides
an evidence-based framework for government action to reduce tobacco
use.
Dr Douglas Bettcher, WHO Director for the Prevention of NCDs, says
the new report gives governments a powerful tool to combat tobacco
industry claims that controls on tobacco products adversely impact
economies.
“This report shows how lives can be saved and economies can
prosper when governments implement cost-effective, proven measures, like
significantly increasing taxes and prices on tobacco products, and
banning tobacco marketing and smoking in public,” he adds.
Tobacco control is a key component of WHO’s global response to the
epidemic of NCDs, primarily cardiovascular disease, cancers, chronic
obstructed pulmonary disease and diabetes. NCDs account for the deaths
of around 16 million people prematurely (before their 70th birthdays)
every year.
Reducing tobacco use plays a major role in global efforts to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing premature deaths
from NCDs by one-third by 2030.
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