Many of my articles have talked about the burden that smoking tobacco has had on the health of the American population. Recently, I had the opportunity to learn about the effect smoking tobacco has on the world. This article looks at the worldwide burden of exposure to tobacco use and may give you a different perspective. It did for me.
Tobacco use kills more than 7 million people worldwide each year, including 1.3 million who die from the effects of exposure to second hand smoke. LMICs have younger overall populations and, usually, have weaker tobaccocontrol regulations than wealthier countries. It is not surprising that the tobacco industry’s marketing efforts have centered on theses countries over the last two decades.
In these LMICs tobacco use has not been decreasing as rapidly as in high-income countries and as the population in these countries has been increasing the actual numbers of smokers has been increasing as well.
The tobacco industry understands that LMICs’ barriers to tobacco-control efforts are not the same as in higher-income countries. Limited public awareness of the health risks of tobacco and cultural traditions in which tobacco plays a role along with the reduced government resources which must be used to combat infectious and other noncommunicable diseases play a significant role in reducing smoking cessation.
The worldwide perspective of tobacco uses and the health risks associated with it were an eye opener for me. Plans by global organizations are underway to try and change the worldwide use of tobacco.
