LONDON - Two fifths of men in developing countries still smoke or use tobacco, and women are increasingly starting to smoke at younger ages, according to a new international study which found "alarming patterns" of tobacco use.
Despite years of anti-smoking measures being encouraged
across the world, most developing countries have low quit rates,
according to the study in The Lancet medical journal on Friday –
and tobacco is likely to kill half its users.
There are wide differences in the rates of smoking between
genders and nations, as well as major disparities in access to
effective anti-smoking policies and treatments.
“Although 1.1 billion people have been covered by the
adoption of the most effective tobacco-control policies since
2008, 83 percent of the world’s population are not covered by
two or more of these policies,” said Gary Giovino of the
University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health
Professions in New York, who led the research.
Such measures include legislation in some developed nations
banning smoking in public places, imposing advertising bans and
requiring more graphic health warnings on cigarette packets.
The findings come as the world’s leading tobacco firms,
British American Tobacco, Britain’s Imperial Tobacco
, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco lost a
crucial legal appeal in Australia this week against the
introduction of plain tobacco packaging.
Australia’s planned “no logo” laws are in line with World
Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations and are being watched
closely by Britain, Norway, New Zealand, Canada and India, which
are considering similar measures to help fight smoking.
Tobacco kills up to half of its users, according to the WHO.
Smoking causes lung cancer, which is often fatal, and other
chronic respiratory diseases. It is also a major risk factor for
cardiovascular diseases, the world’s number one killers. O th er
forms of tobacco use include snuff or chewing tobacco.
Giovino said his findings “reinforce the need for effective
tobacco control”.
301 MILLION CHINESE USE TOBACCO
Using data from Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) carried
out between 2008 and 2010, Giovino’s team compared patterns of
tobacco use and cessation in people aged 15 or older from 14
low- and middle-income countries. They included data from
Britain and the United States for comparison.
They found disproportionately high rates of smoking among
men – at an average 41 percent versus 5 percent in women – and
wide variation in smoking prevalence between GATS countries,
ranging from about 22 percent of men in Brazil to more than 60
percent in Russia.
Rates of female smoking ranged from 0.5 percent in Egypt to
almost 25 percent in Poland. Women in Britain and the United
States also had high smoking rates, at 21 percent and 16 percent
respectively.
The study found that around 64 percent of tobacco users
smoke manufactured cigarettes, although loose-leaf chewing
tobacco and snuff were particularly common in India and
Bangladesh.
With an estimated 301 million tobacco users, China has more
than any other country, closely followed by India with almost
275 million. Other countries included in the study were
Bangladesh, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine,
Uruguay and Vietnam.
The researchers said the rise in tobacco use among young
women was of particular concern.
In a commentary about the study also published in The
Lancet, Jeffrey Koplan from Emory University in the United
States and Judith Mackay from the World Lung Foundation in Hong
Kong called for more investment in tobacco control measures,
saying current under-funding was “extraordinary”.
In low income countries, they said, for every $9,100
received in tobacco taxes, only $1 was spent on tobacco control.
The WHO says tobacco already kills around 6 million people a
year worldwide, including more than 600,000 non-smokers who die
from exposure to second-hand smoke.
By 2030, if current trends continue, it predicts tobacco
could be killing 8 million people a year.
