Sociologists and Philanthropists need not worry about the population explosion any more; the tobacco epidemic is doing its job. If the governments across the globe do not take appropriate action, over 500 million people could die who have all the right to live and enjoy a healthy life. The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008, that examines the tobacco policies of over 179 countries for the first time ever, recommends use of a six tobacco control policies, strategically named MPOWER, that includes raising taxes and prices of tobacco, ban of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; warn people about dangers of tobacco and secondhand smoke, monitoring tobacco use to understand and reverse the epidemic.
Warning issued in the report claims tobacco to be the cause for death of over 100 million people in the past century and if left untamed could end up taking 8 million lives by 2030. Most of tobacco users belong to developing countries in the low and middle income groups; easy commercial targets that they are, a major income of their poor households smokes away in tobacco and they die as a result. 10 such countries have been identified, which are home to nearly two thirds of the world’s smoking population; China with 30%(over 100 million Chinese men under 30 could die due to Tobacco use), India with 10%(one fourths of the total middle aged men die because of tobacco use), followed by Indonesia, Russia, US, Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany and Turkey.
The report is a panic button of sorts for all of these countries where the potential for tobacco related diseases and death is highest and health care services least. Over $200 billion in tobacco taxes is collected worldwide and less than one fifth of a percent is spent on tobacco control. A 70% increase in the prices of tobacco could cut down almost one fourth of all the smoking related deaths, report suggests.
Via: Guardian