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We can eradicate the global scourge of tobacco

Nature Clinical Practice Oncology volume 2, pages 378–379 (2005)Cite this article

The world is facing a pandemic of epic proportions. Tobacco, the only consumer product proven to kill more than half of its regular users, will be responsible for 4.9 million deaths worldwide this year alone.1 Today, that burden is fairly evenly shared by industrialized and developing nations. If current trends continue, however, the cancer burden in the developing world will more than triple in the next 25 years—resulting in a global total of 10 million deaths worldwide each and every year.2 Seven million of these will occur in the developing world, in the nations least prepared to deal with the financial, social, and political consequences of this global public health tragedy.3

If we fail to act to prevent this tragedy, the consequences will most certainly be dire. Five hundred million people alive today, 250 million of them children, will die as a direct result of tobacco use.2 Half of these people will die in middle age—when they are most productive for their economies, their societies, and their families.4 In the last century alone, tobacco use killed 100 million smokers.5 If left unchecked, tobacco use will kill more than a billion people in this century.

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References

  1. (online 12 August 2003) An international treaty for tobacco control [http://www.who.int/features/2003/08/en/] (accessed 17 May 2005)

  2. [No authors listed] (1999) Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control, vol 9. Washington, DC: The World Bank

  3. [No authors listed] (1999) Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control, vol 1. Washington, DC: The World Bank

  4. [No authors listed] (1999) Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control, vol 2. Washington, DC: The World Bank

  5. action on smoking and health: International Issues [http://www.ash.org.uk/?international] (Accessed 17 May 2005)

  6. Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) [http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/global/gyts/GYTS_intro.htm] (Accessed 17 May 2005)

  7. Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2002 [http://www.ftc.gov/reports/cigarette/041022cigaretterpt.pdf] (Accessed 17 May 2005)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA

    John R Seffrin

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  1. John R Seffrin
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Correspondence to John R Seffrin.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Seffrin, J. We can eradicate the global scourge of tobacco. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2, 378–379 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc0246

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