With tobacco use claiming one life every 6,5 seconds and causing an estimated annual economic loss of 200 billion US dollar worldwide, the United Nations health agency is devoting this year?s World No Tobacco Day to the ?vicious circle? that inextricably links tobacco and poverty.
?The world cannot accept such easily preventable human and economic losses,? World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Lee Jong-wook said in a message to mark the Day, observed on 31 May, and being held this year under the slogan ?Tobacco and Poverty: a vicious circle.?
Studies across all regions in the world show that it is the poorest people who tend to smoke the most in both developing and developed countries, and who bear most of the disease burden. People with less education also tend to consume more tobacco.
A recent study in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, concludes that smoking prevalence among people with four or less years of studies is 26 per cent compared with a 17 per cent for those with nine or more years of schooling. The trend is similar for income levels.
Regarding the economic impact, a major study undertaken in 1994 estimated that tobacco results in an annual global net loss of 200 billion dollar, a third of it in developing countries. The World Bank estimates that high-income countries spend currently between 6 per cent and 15 per cent of their total health-care costs to treat tobacco-related diseases.
This year?s campaign also highlights that an overwhelming majority of small tobacco farmers, especially in developing countries, live in poverty.
?Precarious labour conditions, including the use of child labour and exposure to highly toxic products, and a highly negative impact on the environment make tobacco an issue inextricably linked to poverty and other development issues,? said Catherine le Gal?s-Camus, WHO Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.
Last year the 192-member WHO unanimously adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global treaty requiring countries to restrict tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, set new labelling and clean indoor air controls and strengthen legislation to clamp down on tobacco smuggling.
So far, the treaty, which needs 40 ratifications to enter into force, has been signed by 118 countries and ratified by 16. But WHO notes that the tobacco epidemic is still expanding, especially in developing countries where currently, 84 per cent of smokers live.
Tobacco use kills 4,9 million people each year, a toll that is expected to double in the next 20 years. At current rates, the total number of tobacco users is expected to rise to 1,7 billion by 2025 from 1,3 billion now.
Kilde: FNs nyhedstjeneste
