People are starting to quit smoking – WHO

Tobacco consumption is declining worldwide, despite attempts by the tobacco industry to increase the number of smokers. This was stated in the WHO report on Tuesday, January 16.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 1.25 billion adult tobacco users worldwide today.

“Trends for 2022 show a decline in global tobacco consumption. About 1 in 5 adults worldwide use tobacco, down from 1 in 3 in 2000,” the report said.

The document states that 150 countries are successfully reducing tobacco consumption. For example, Brazil has achieved a 35% reduction since 2010, while the Netherlands is on the verge of reaching 30%.

The director of WHO’s Department of Health Promotion, Rüdiger Kretsch, warned against complacency.

“I am amazed at the depths to which the tobacco industry will stoop to make a profit at the cost of countless lives. We see that as soon as the government thinks it has won the fight against tobacco, the industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policy and sell its deadly products.” – explained the officer.

WHO encourages countries to continue to implement tobacco control policies.

The report noted that the largest number of smokers now reside in the Southeast Asian region. There are 26.5% of them. In the European region there is 25.3% of the total population. However, tobacco use among women in the European Region is more than double the global average and is declining at a slower rate than all other regions.

“Although these numbers have continued to decline for many years, by 2025 the world will achieve a relative reduction in tobacco use of 25%, short of the voluntary global target of a 30% reduction from the 2010 baseline “Only 56 countries in the world will achieve this goal, which is four countries less than the last report in 2021,” the report said.