A headline in The Lancet this week says that we are "Six steps away from averting one billion deaths". What the editorial is talking about is the release of the WHO's mpower report - on the global tobacco epidemic in 2008. The crux of the report is that the only truly effective way of reducing tobacco smoking is for governments to massively increase taxation on tobacco products. But this is only one of six core interventions recommended by WHO. Globally, tobacco causes enormous harm to population health. Tobacco-related illness is the leading cause of preventable death in the world. Tobacco use killed 100 million people in the 20th Century. If tobacco use continues as it is, it will kill more than eight million people a year by the year 2030. That is one billion deaths in the 21st Century. And tobacco companies - losing the battle among wealthier populations - are targeting the poor, particularly in the developing world. At the moment, 80% of tobacco-related deaths occur in the developing world. The world's smokers are now concentrated in only 10 countries, with China and India accounting for 40% of the total. Tobacco advertising is widespread and enthusiastic in these countries, as the industry faces increasing advertising and sponsorship bans elsewhere. MPOWER is a six point programme: monitoring tobacco use, Protecting people from secondhand smoke, offering help to quit, warning about tobacco's effects, enforcing bans on advertising and sponsorship, and raising taxes on tobacco products. The costs of such a programme are small in comparison to the costs to a country of tobacco-related harms. A small price to pay for averting a public health disaster.
Bridget Farham Editor https://www.bizcommunity.com