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Despite protective measures, seven million deaths a year from smoking
Smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), although tobacco control measures are beginning to show results, seven million people still die each year worldwide. The WHO therefore calls on governments to further intensify prevention work - and criticizes, above all, rich countries for having done too little in the past.
Anti-smoking programs work
The anti-smoking measures appear to be working according to the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic. Yet, tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death, killing more than seven million people every year. "It's like eradicating the entire population of Bulgaria or Paraguay every year. That is unacceptable, "said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus according to the news agency "dpa" at the release of the report on Wednesday in New York.
According to the WHO, the anti-smoking measures are already showing signs of success, but far too many people continue to catch the cigarette. (Image: schankz / fotolia.com) More than half of the world's population is reached
According to a recent WHO communication, around 4.7 billion people - and thus 63% of the world's population - currently benefit from at least one measure, such as the warnings on cigarette packets, advertising or smoking bans in the workplace. The poorer countries in particular have recently made great progress in introducing anti-smoking measures. On the other hand, richer states lacked "political will," according to Douglas Bettcher of the WHO. Accordingly, governments worldwide are urged to step up work to protect the population.
Shock photos on cigarette packs are widely used
The report has the greatest coverage for warnings and dissuasive images on the cigarette packs. These are compulsory in 78 countries (such as India and Bangladesh) and reach just under half of the world's population (3.5%) (47%). EU-wide the shock photos and warnings since May 2016 must be shown on the boxes. In addition, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control lays down a number of other preventive measures. For example, tobacco advertising bans, protection against secondhand smoke and the increase of taxes on tobacco products.
Only in two EU countries there is no complete advertising ban
In the last ten years, according to the WHO, the number of developing countries that have introduced a total ban on smoking in the workplace has risen from 4 to 39. 24 imposed advertising bans during the same period. In Germany, on the other hand, there is a pent-up demand, as there is currently no complete ban on advertising across the EU and in Bulgaria. There is still a lot to do in other rich countries - in the USA, for example, there are still no clear warnings on the boxes.
"One in ten deaths around the world is caused by tobacco," said WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases Michael R. Bloomberg. But this could be changed by tobacco control measures. "The progress that has been made globally - and documented in this report - shows that countries are able to reverse the trend," the former New York mayor went on to say.
Governments must also fight the illicit tobacco trade
Although the tobacco industry is still obstructing the fight against smoking in many areas, governments still need to take countermeasures, Ghebreyesus said. No time should be lost to include the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention in national tobacco control programs. "Governments must also curb the illicit tobacco trade, which aggravates the global tobacco epidemic and its associated health and socio-economic consequences," said the WHO Director-General.
Ghebreyesus adds, "Together, countries can prevent millions of people from dying every year from preventable tobacco-related illnesses and saving billions of dollars annually on preventable health care and productivity losses." (Nr)