Overall the share of tobacco-related diseases in the total disease burden worldwide is expected to rise from 2.6 percent in 1990 to almost 10 percent in 2015, “killing more people than any single disease, including being responsible for 50 percent more deaths than HIV/AIDS.”
UNITED NATIONS (IPS/GIN) - Of the more than 1.3 billion smokers alive today, about 650 million will eventually be killed by tobacco, according to a new UN report.
The 20-member task force includes representatives of virtually all the key UN agencies and sister organizations, including the World Bank, the UN Children’s Fund, the UN Development Program, the World Health Organization, the UN Environment Program and the International Labor Organization.
The report, which will go before the upcoming session of the Economic and Social Council, June 30-July 25, points to a recent study that estimated 5.4 million deaths caused by smoking to occur in 2005 alone.
The number of deaths is expected to rise to 8.3 million in 2030, with more than 80 percent occurring in developing countries.
Overall the share of tobacco-related diseases in the total disease burden worldwide is expected to rise from 2.6 percent in 1990 to almost 10 percent in 2015, “killing more people than any single disease, including being responsible for 50 percent more deaths than HIV/AIDS.”
As recognized by the Economic and Social Council, tobacco use not only has negative health, social and environmental consequences but also undermines UN efforts toward poverty alleviation, the report said.
Tobacco use is linked to a range of serious diseases that include various cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory and digestive diseases.
According to survey data gathered from youth aged 13-15 years, the prevalence of exposure to tobacco smoke can be above 80 percent in Europe; above 60 percent in the Americas; and around 50 percent in Africa, Southeast Asia, Western Pacific and the Eastern Mediterranean regions.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that while production of tobacco is decreasing in developed countries, it is expanding in the developing world.
In the 1970s, developing countries produced a little under 60 percent of the world’s tobacco. By 2010, the study predicts, they could be producing more than 80 percent.
“This reflects both the lower cost of production and a marked increase in demand in the developing countries,” it said.
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