Targets on tobacco use not being met

Geneva – The number of adult tobacco users has dropped steadily in recent years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday, but it warned Big Tobacco is working hard to reverse that trend.

In 2022, about one in five adults were smokers or consumed other tobacco products globally, compared to one in every three in 2000.

A report looking at trends in the prevalence of tobacco use between 2000 and 2030 showed 150 countries were successfully reducing tobacco use.

But while smoking rates are declining in most countries, WHO warned that tobacco-related deaths were expected to remain high for years to come.

Currently, tobacco use is still estimated to kill more than eight million people each year, including an estimated 1.3 million nonsmokers who were exposed to second-hand smoke, WHO statistics show.

“Countries implementing strong tobacco control measures can expect to wait about 30 years between turning the prevalence rate from increasing to decreasing and seeing an associated turnaround in the number of deaths due to tobacco,” the report said.

The world was set to miss its goal of a 30% drop in tobacco use from 2010 to 2025.

Fifty-six countries were expected to hit that target, including Brazil, which has already slashed tobacco use by 35% since 2010.

The Republic of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Moldova and Oman have seen tobacco use rise since 2010.

Overall, the world is on track to shrink tobacco use by a quarter by 2025, the report said.

While celebrating the advances, WHO warned the tobacco industry was intent on rolling them back.

“Good progress has been made ... but there is no time for complacency,” said Ruediger Krech, director of the WHO’s health promotion department. “I’m astounded at the depths the tobacco industry will go to pursue profits at the expense of countless lives.

“The minute a government thinks they have won the fight, the tobacco industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policies...”

WHO urged all countries to maintain and strengthen control policies and to fight “tobacco industry interference”. –