WHO: Tobacco consumption down, but Europe at risk
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that tobacco consumption is declining worldwide, but Europe may become the leading smoking continent by 2030.
The WHO's report found that tobacco consumption has declined in 150 countries since 2010. However, the organisation warned that the number of tobacco-related deaths is likely to remain high in the coming years.
According to the WHO, smoking kills over 8 million people each year, including about 1.3 million nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke.
The report also found that the time it takes for strict tobacco control measures to have an impact on reducing deaths is about 30 years.
Even though the number of smokers is declining, the WHO estimates that the goal of reducing tobacco consumption by 30% between 2010 and 2025 is unrealistic. The report's authors estimate that the world is on track to reduce tobacco consumption by a quarter during this period.
However, six countries have seen an increase in tobacco consumption since 2010: Moldova, Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, and Oman.
According to the WHO, Southeast Asian countries, which account for over 26% of the world's population, currently have the highest consumption of tobacco products. Europe is in second place. As a result, Europe could become the leading continent in terms of tobacco consumption by 2030.
The WHO also warned about the new so-called smokeless products and called for more data to be collected on their success among adolescents.
Globally, 10% of young people aged 13 to 15 years old consume one or more types of tobacco. This means at least 37 million adolescent tobacco users, of whom at least 12 million use new products.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
