Over the past 15 years, progress has been made in the fight against tobacco worldwide and the smoking rate is dropped from 22.8% in 2007 to 17% in 2021. But only four countries, namely Brazil, Turkey, Mauritius and the Netherlands, have all taken anti-tobacco measures recommended by the World Health Organisation. This is indicated by a new WHO report which points out that as many as 5.6 billion people, or 71% of the world‘s population, are now protected by at least one smoking control measure, 5 times more than in 2007.
“Slowly but surely, more and more people are being protected from the harmful effects of tobacco,” the statement said WHO director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. WHO established the MPower program in 2008 to help countries reduce tobacco demand. It focuses on a few key points: protecting the population from tobacco smoke, raising taxes, monitoring consumption, offering help to those who want to quit, putting warn of the dangers and enforce the ban on tobacco advertising.
Every year, around 8.7 million people die worldwide from tobacco-related diseases, of which 1.3 million are victims of secondhand smoke. Nearly 40% of countries now have completely smoke-free enclosed public places and 25 countries have made it illegal to smoke in a car carrying children. Without the measures taken by countries, there would be 300 million more smokers in the world today.
However, 2.3 billion people in 44 countries are still unprotected by none of the measures recommended by WHO and 53 states have not yet imposed a complete ban on smoking in health facilities. “Even as smoking rates have declined, tobacco is still the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, largely due to relentless marketing campaigns,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases. of industry. By helping more countries implement smart policies, we will be able to save millions more lives.”
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