HQ Team
January 16, 2024: The number of adults who smoke has fallen to one in five from one in three in 2000 with 150 nations reducing tobacco use successfully, according to the World Health Organization.
Currently, there are 1.25 billion adult tobacco users. The WHO South-East Asia Region has the highest percentage of the population using tobacco at 26.5% with the European Region next at 25.3%, the WHO stated in a report.
By 2030 the WHO European Region is projected to have the highest rates globally with a prevalence of just over 23%.
Brazil and the Netherlands have implemented MPOWER tobacco control measures with Brazil making a relative reduction of 35% since 2010 and the Netherlands being on the verge of reaching the 30% target.
Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of the WHO Department of Health Promotion, said it was no time for complacency.
Industry ‘manipulation’
“I’m astounded at the depths the tobacco industry will go to pursue profits at the expense of countless lives. We see that the minute a government thinks they have won the fight against tobacco the tobacco industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policies and sell their deadly products,” he said.
The WHO urged countries to continue putting in place tobacco control policies and continue to fight against tobacco industry interference.
In February countries are set to meet in Panama for the 10th Session of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of Parties “where the tobacco industry will try to influence global health policies by offering financial and in-kind incentives, interfering with countries’ rights to protect the health of their populations,” according to the WHO statement.
Women puff away
Tobacco use rates among women in WHO’s European region were more than double the global average and were reducing much slower than in all other regions, according to the report.
While the numbers have steadily decreased over the years the world will make it to a 25% relative reduction in tobacco use by 2025.
It will still miss the voluntary global goal of a 30% reduction from the 2010 baseline. Only 56 countries globally will reach this goal, down four countries since the last report in 2021.
The prevalence of tobacco use has changed little since 2010 in some countries, while six countries are still seeing tobacco use rising — Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman, and the Republic of Moldova.
Country surveys consistently showed that children aged 13–15 years in most countries are using tobacco and nicotine products.
