The (mostly) optimistic news: the number of adults who use tobacco worldwide has steadily declined in recent years, according to the World Health Organization. In 2022, about one in five adults worldwide smoked or used tobacco derivatives, up from one in three at the turn of the millennium, the organization said in a new report on Tuesday. A total of 150 countries have succeeded in reducing their tobacco consumption.
But although smoking rates are declining in most countries, the WHO has warned that tobacco-related deaths are expected to remain high in the coming years. Its statistics show that smoking kills more than eight million people each year, including about 1.3 million non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. The lag time between the implementation of strict tobacco control measures and the decline in the number of deaths is about <> years, the report points out.
A tobacco industry that does not disarm
And even though the number of smokers has been steadily decreasing, the WHO estimates that the target of a 30% reduction in tobacco consumption between 2 and 010 will not be achieved. Fifty-six countries are expected to do so, including Brazil, which has already managed to reduce its tobacco consumption by 2% since 025.
Six countries, on the other hand, have seen an increase in tobacco consumption since 2010: Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman and Moldova. However, overall, the world is on track to reduce tobacco consumption by a quarter over the period 2010-2025, the report's authors estimate. But the WHO warns that the tobacco industry does not intend to sit idly by.
Younger and younger smokers
"Significant progress has been made in tobacco control in recent years, but now is not the time to stand idly by," warned Ruediger Krech, Director of the Department of Health Promotion at WHO. "I am amazed at how far the tobacco industry is willing to go to make profits at the expense of countless lives," he said.
The WHO calls for a fight against "interference by the tobacco industry". And draws attention to the new so-called smoke-free products and calls for the collection of as much data as possible with regard to their success with teenagers. For example, 10% of young people aged 13 to 15 worldwide use one or more types of tobacco.
Read alsoPuff ban: helping teenagers wean themselves, no one has (yet) thought about it
This represents at least 37 million adolescent tobacco users, including at least 12 million who use these new products. These figures are vastly underestimated, since more than 70 countries do not provide any data. A disturbing lack of information in the face of an industry that is trying to undermine public health efforts to deter young people.