World No Tobacco Day/ Study: Every minute 15 people die

2023-05-30 16:04:00, Shëndeti CNA

Every minute 10 million smokers light a cigarette and 15 people die from smoking.

How many smokers?

Of the 8 billion people on Earth, about 1 billion are smokers, according to the World Health Organization and The Tobacco Atlas.

More than 5,000 billion cigarettes are consumed each year, according to The Tobacco Atlas, a tobacco information center of the US non-governmental organization Vital Strategies and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The number of smokers has been declining for several years thanks to anti-smoking measures adopted by various countries, such as tax increases and the recent emergence of e-cigarettes.

In 2000, a third of the world's population over the age of 15 were smokers, compared to 20% now.

Where do they smoke more?

The largest number of smokers is in China: the country of 1.4 billion people has almost 300 million smokers, according to WHO data for 2020.

Indonesia also has a high number of male smokers: 62.7% of those over 15 smoke.
Smoking now mainly affects the poorest countries: 80% of smokers live in low- or middle-income countries.

In Africa and the Middle East there is a small decline in smokers, although some countries such as Egypt and Iraq are going the opposite way.

How many people die?

Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death: worldwide one person dies every four seconds due to smoking.

Active or passive smoking killed almost 9 million people in 2019, according to the "Global Burden of Disease" study published in 2021 in the scientific journal The Lancet.

Cancer - mainly of the lungs -, respiratory and cardiovascular problems are the main diseases associated with smoking.

Në shekullin e 20-të, 100 milionë njerëz vdiqën nga duhani, sipas hulumtimit të botuar në vitin 2009 në revistën Nature, një numër më i madh se 60 deri në 80 milionë që vdiqën në Luftën e Dytë Botërore dhe 18 milionë që vdiqën në Luftën e Parë Botërore.

Në gjysmën e parë të shekullit të 21-të, 450 milionë njerëz mund të vdesin nga duhani. Në të njëjtën kohë, ajo i kushton shumë shoqërisë: thith 6% të kostove globale të shëndetit, sipas hulumtimit të koordinuar nga OBSH dhe botuar në vitin 2018 në revistën Tobacco Control.

Cilat janë efektet në planet?

Cigarettes damage not only the lungs and arteries of smokers, but also the planet: the production and consumption of tobacco causes the release of 84 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Almost a million tons of gop are thrown away every year, along with their non-biodegradable acetate-containing filters. Growing tobacco requires 22 billion tons of water every year and the tobacco industry produces 25 million tons of solid waste./ Adapted from CNA.al