Tobacco epidemic at turning point as male smoking rates stall: WHO

[webfact]

Tobacco epidemic at turning point as male smoking rates stall: WHO

By Kate Kelland

 

FILE PHOTO: Discarded cigarette butts are pictured at the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin, Germany, May 26, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

 

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of men who smoke and use tobacco has stopped rising and is on the turn for the first time, marking a shift in a global epidemic that has killed tens of millions of people over decades, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

 

The change in global smoking trends shows that governments' efforts to control tobacco are working "to save lives, protect health, beat tobacco", the WHO said in a report.

 

It promised to work closely with countries to maintain the downward trend.

 

"For many years now we had witnessed a steady rise in the number of males using deadly tobacco products. But now, for the first time, we are seeing a decline in male use, driven by governments being tougher on the tobacco industry," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's Director-General, said in a statement about the report's findings.

 

Smoking causes lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart disease, as well as for mouth, throat and other types of cancer.

 

Every year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco use, according to WHO data. More than 7 million of those deaths are from direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

 

In 2018, some 60 million fewer people around the world smoked or used tobacco compared to 2000, the WHO's report said, with the overall number of tobacco users falling to 1.337 billion people globally in 2018 from 1.397 billion in 2000.

 

"Fewer people are using tobacco, which is a major step for global public health," said Vinayak Prasad, head of WHO’s tobacco control unit.

 

This decline had previously largely been driven by fewer women and girls smoking, the WHO said - with the number of male tobacco users rising by around 40 million to 1.093 billion between 2000 and 2018.

 

But this latest report showed the number of male tobacco users has stopped growing and is projected to decline. By 2020, the report said, there will be 10 million fewer tobacco users overall - male and female - than in 2018, and by 2025, that number will drop by another 27 million people.

 

The WHO global tobacco report covers use of cigarettes, pipes, cigars, waterpipes, smokeless tobacco products such as bidis and cheroots, and heated tobacco products.

 

(Reporting by Kate Kelland, Editing by William Maclean)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-19

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[Samui Bodoh]

8 minutes ago, webfact said:

Every year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco use, according to WHO data. More than 7 million of those deaths are from direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

The simple truth is that if you are still smoking, despite all that medical science has told us, it is because you are either an addict or because you refuse to accept what is in front of your face.

 

If a smoker is trying to quit, I would advocate maximum assistance to them as a part of a public health campaign.

 

If a smoker isn't trying to quit, then they have a death wish and we all should honour that and let them die quickly.

 

And yes, I am a reformed smoker.

 

Reformed smokers are not the 'worst', smokers are.

 

 

[LazySlipper]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

The simple truth is that if you are still smoking, despite all that medical science has told us, it is because you are either an addict or because you refuse to accept what is in front of your face.

 

If a smoker is trying to quit, I would advocate maximum assistance to them as a part of a public health campaign.

 

If a smoker isn't trying to quit, then they have a death wish and we all should honour that and let them die quickly.

 

And yes, I am a reformed smoker.

 

Reformed smokers are not the 'worst', smokers are.

 

 

 

Being an ex addicted smoker I say to each his own and I do not condemn smokers even if the smell annoys me when they smoke next to me.

 

Quite frankly if ever I find out I have fatal illness I qill likely smoke again seeing how I would have nothing to lose. I actually enjoyed smoking.

[chrisinth]

Nowhere in that report did I see population increase (2000 - 2018) factored into their figures.

 

In fact, given their figures, including global population growth, it would seem their/all anti-smoking program(s) have worked very, very well. Either that or they are selecting the statistics they want and putting a spin on them.

[car720]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Smoking causes lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart disease, as well as for mouth, throat and other types of cancer.

If I poisoned my neighbour I would immediately be arrested for murder.  Governments allow the sale of cigarettes at a highly taxed rate yet are never arrested for murder.  Something is rotten in Denmark.

I have smoked for 55 years and my doctor tells me I am in excellent health with good heart and lungs.  Every time people throw figures around they always quote 'statistical figures' yet offer no concrete proof.  If you think that smoking is bad for your health then don't smoke but don't pull everyone else's chain.  Whatever happened to freedom of choice.  We all scream that sick people should have the right to end it all if they want to because it is their choice.  Is this not the same?

[johng]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Every year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco use, according to WHO data. More than 7 million of those deaths are from direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Have they worked out how many people are killed by the toxic PM2.5  particles from burning fossil fuels,forests,fields and plastics ?  doesn't everyone die eventually ?

[Number 6]

Every person that has smoked in my family has died of smoking or related illnesses. Those have have not lived into late 80s and 90s.

 

Cancer:

Grandfather 74yo

Aunt 1 63yo

Aunt 2 72yo

Sister 52yo

 

After the turn of the century it became almost entirely a habit of the lower classes. Now, 2020 even uneducated people know the health risks and financial costs.

 

Enjoying a smoke at the pub might be one thing. Going through even 3-5 cigarettes a day, pack a day or wasting time at work due to necessary smoke breaks routinely is a sign of low class, plebian behavior.

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, johng said:

Have they worked out how many people are killed by the toxic PM2.5  particles from burning fossil fuels,forests,fields and plastics ?  doesn't everyone die eventually ?

Yes, so on top of that they smoke. Absolute genius.

[johng]

2 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

wasting time at work due to necessary smoke breaks

Well before the "witch hunt"  there was no time wasted for smoke breaks as everyone could just smoke wherever they where working (with a few exceptions)

 

5 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

health risks and financial costs.

Financial costs are all due to the very high tax imposed by governments...if tobacco is so bad ( its probably bad like living in a highly polluted city) why don't  governments totally ban it ?

[Number 6]

3 minutes ago, johng said:

Well before the "witch hunt"  there was no time wasted for smoke breaks as everyone could just smoke wherever they where working (with a few exceptions)

Until it was clearly appreciated and was banned confirming second hand smoke nearly as bad as having cancer stick in one's own mouth.

 

Cancer stick

Coffin nail

 

At least smoke a decent cigar brand

 

 

[Number 6]

6 minutes ago, johng said:

Well before the "witch hunt"  there was no time wasted for smoke breaks as everyone could just smoke wherever they where working (with a few exceptions)

 

Financial costs are all due to the very high tax imposed by governments...if tobacco is so bad ( its probably bad like living in a highly polluted city) why don't  governments totally ban it ?

Presumably because people are given the liberty to do incredibly stupid things with their lives. I don't think it should be banned just limited to ones domicile and not around persons under 18.

[englishoak]

All very well, at least smoking is a personal choice and can be given up.

 

Meanwhile the air quality and toxicity in many places is probably just as unhealthy and mostly ignored, yet people continue to live and even more stupidly move to these poisonous locals. Why move to a place with bad air quality after giving up smoking ? makes no sense to me. 

 

There are policed regulations for smoking in many countries but not for smog and air pollution.

 

Spend as much time raising awareness of the dangers and damage of air pollution mostly over large populated areas and enforce with it the same gusto and it  will save millions if not billions more from health problems... get on with it.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2019 by englishoak

[Pique Dard]

i can't stand smokers!

[Don Mega]

13 minutes ago, Pique Dard said:

i can't stand smokers!

I can't stand whingers !

[ThomasThBKK]

The WHO is as fake and corrupt as one can get, what a bunch of loonies. They have nothing to do with these good results.

 

Not a single word about vaping and how the NHS installed vapeshops in hospitals to get as many people off from cancer sticks as possible...WHO is strictly against vaping, glad the UK, Germany and co don't give a fak about what the WHO wants. The WHO is cancer, literally.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/02/number-teens-taking-smoking-hits-record-low-one-four-try-vaping/

 

Quote

The NHS data shows the number of adults and children smoking has dropped to a record low, while vaping is on the rise. 

In total, 6.3 per cent of adults are current users of e-cigarettes, the figures for 2016 show - up from 3.7 per cent in 2014.  And 25 per cent of children aged between 11 and 15 have tried e-cigarettes - a rise from 22 per cent in two years.

Public Health England said vaping is now the most popular and effective way for smokers to quit.

Chief executive Duncan Selbie said: "This is really positive news in the battle against the nation's biggest killer. Smoking in England is in terminal decline, with the lowest number of smokers ever and a smoke-free generation now in sight.”

The figures, for 2016, show just six per cent of school pupils aged between 11 and 15 reported they were current smokers, down from 22 per cent in 1996.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/e-cigarettes-vaping-smoking-smokers-quit-cigarettes-study-cancer-research-uk-a9159321.html

 

Quote

By assessing 50,598 smokers between 2006 and 2017, the researchers concluded that in 2017, between 50,700 and 69,930 smokers quit who would have likely continued had they not started vaping.

 

Quote

This decline had previously largely been driven by fewer women and girls smoking, the WHO said - with the number of male tobacco users rising by around 40 million to 1.093 billion between 2000 and 2018.

 

But this latest report showed the number of male tobacco users has stopped growing and is projected to decline. By 2020, the report said, there will be 10 million fewer tobacco users overall - male and female - than in 2018, and by 2025, that number will drop by another 27 million people.

 

The WHO global tobacco report covers use of cigarettes, pipes, cigars, waterpipes, smokeless tobacco products such as bidis and cheroots, and heated tobacco products.

 

 

 

On 12/19/2019 at 7:16 AM, webfact said:

The WHO global tobacco report covers use of cigarettes, pipes, cigars, waterpipes, smokeless tobacco products such as bidis and cheroots, and heated tobacco products.

yeah no <deleted> WHO, the numbers go down because they vape now even if you hate it and EXCLUDE it from your statistics.

[BritManToo]

On 12/19/2019 at 7:16 AM, webfact said:

The number of men who smoke and use tobacco has stopped rising and is on the turn for the first time, marking a shift in a global epidemic that has killed tens of millions of people over decades, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

So how are they all making their joints?

I mean, I'd like an alternative, but bongs and pipes are just too much trouble.

(and vapes are illegal in Thailand)

Edited December 21, 2019 by BritManToo

[kingdong]

On 12/19/2019 at 6:46 AM, car720 said:

If I poisoned my neighbour I would immediately be arrested for murder.  Governments allow the sale of cigarettes at a highly taxed rate yet are never arrested for murder.  Something is rotten in Denmark.

I have smoked for 55 years and my doctor tells me I am in excellent health with good heart and lungs.  Every time people throw figures around they always quote 'statistical figures' yet offer no concrete proof.  If you think that smoking is bad for your health then don't smoke but don't pull everyone else's chain.  Whatever happened to freedom of choice.  We all scream that sick people should have the right to end it all if they want to because it is their choice.  Is this not the same?

No,because all the filth you,'re exhaling is killing other people through passive smoking.

[Ron jeremy]

The cost of smokers to employers is huge, 1 hour a day minimum, lost time as these people think it's their God given right to sit in the smoke pit while others continue to work.

every job is the same. Smoke before coffee break, then after, then before and after lunch break. Then after the simplest task is completed. Smoke time! 

No pity from me when they are on their last breath. 

[Basil B]

Well I hope that one good thing that will come out of Brexit is end of shysters bringing in van loads of fags and tobacco claiming it is for their personal use and selling it cheep on the black market. 

[Inn Between]

1 hour ago, Ron jeremy said:

The cost of smokers to employers is huge, 1 hour a day minimum, lost time as these people think it's their God given right to sit in the smoke pit while others continue to work.

every job is the same. Smoke before coffee break, then after, then before and after lunch break. Then after the simplest task is completed. Smoke time! 

No pity from me when they are on their last breath. 

That does appear to be the cost, but just because people have left the immediate situation to have a cigarette doesn't mean they've stopped working. Where I taught for years, a regular group of us would be attracted the old picnic table at about the same time every morning, which was the designated smoking spot, and discussions about the students, methods, situations and other pedagogical subjects were normal. It was a nice regular exchange of supportive info and probably more worthwhile in that way than the formal workshops and staff meetings we would have.

 

And if I was going out at a time when there was likely nobody else out there, I'd take some of the ever-nagging paperwork to do. And further to that, even if the computer programmer or a person in some other thought-oriented employment is away from the computer or desk, that doesn't mean he or she has turned their mind off their job. The reason that nesting didn't working their code or some other such problem is probably being contemplated and possibly even solved during the relaxing moment of enjoying their smoke.   

 

When I finally quit smoking tobacco, I still took my breaks with my cigarette-smoking colleagues because I missed the quality of the informal meeting we'd have. So, assuming that all production has stopped when people leave the desk to have a cigarette, isn't really fair. 

 

As for showing no sympathy to the people who got lulled into their addiction by the tobacco companies I see them as victims -- not thieves.    

[Ron jeremy]

3 hours ago, Inn Between said:

That does appear to be the cost, but just because people have left the immediate situation to have a cigarette doesn't mean they've stopped working. Where I taught for years, a regular group of us would be attracted the old picnic table at about the same time every morning, which was the designated smoking spot, and discussions about the students, methods, situations and other pedagogical subjects were normal. It was a nice regular exchange of supportive info and probably more worthwhile in that way than the formal workshops and staff meetings we would have.

 

And if I was going out at a time when there was likely nobody else out there, I'd take some of the ever-nagging paperwork to do. And further to that, even if the computer programmer or a person in some other thought-oriented employment is away from the computer or desk, that doesn't mean he or she has turned their mind off their job. The reason that nesting didn't working their code or some other such problem is probably being contemplated and possibly even solved during the relaxing moment of enjoying their smoke.   

 

When I finally quit smoking tobacco, I still took my breaks with my cigarette-smoking colleagues because I missed the quality of the informal meeting we'd have. So, assuming that all production has stopped when people leave the desk to have a cigarette, isn't really fair. 

 

As for showing no sympathy to the people who got lulled into their addiction by the tobacco companies I see them as victims -- not thieves.    

2 totally different scenarios, school teacher as opposed to a construction worker.

an adult makes a decision to use a product that they know kills or harms them. Can't blame the companies.same as alcohol, not the companies fault if someone becomes an alcoholic.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Ron jeremy

[car720]

On 12/25/2019 at 1:06 AM, kingdong said:

No,because all the filth you,'re exhaling is killing other people through passive smoking.

Show me the non-statistical proof.  Just one case where anyone has been proven to die from either direct or passive smoke.

[BritManToo]

On 12/24/2019 at 11:02 PM, Ron jeremy said:

The cost of smokers to employers is huge, 1 hour a day minimum, lost time as these people think it's their God given right to sit in the smoke pit while others continue to work.

every job is the same. Smoke before coffee break, then after, then before and after lunch break. Then after the simplest task is completed. Smoke time! 

No pity from me when they are on their last breath. 

I worked in a job where there was only usually about 2 hours work to be done on a 12 hour shift.

The rest of the time we watched tv, read books, dozed, played cards or smoked.

(alcohol wasn't allowed)

Edited December 26, 2019 by BritManToo

[Scott]

Off-topic post and replies removed. 

[jayboy]

On 12/19/2019 at 3:48 PM, Number 6 said:

Every person that has smoked in my family has died of smoking or related illnesses. Those have have not lived into late 80s and 90s.

 

Cancer:

Grandfather 74yo

Aunt 1 63yo

Aunt 2 72yo

Sister 52yo

 

After the turn of the century it became almost entirely a habit of the lower classes. Now, 2020 even uneducated people know the health risks and financial costs.

 

Enjoying a smoke at the pub might be one thing. Going through even 3-5 cigarettes a day, pack a day or wasting time at work due to necessary smoke breaks routinely is a sign of low class, plebian behavior.

There's something to be said for this (smoking a lower class habit) but there are many exceptions particularly in Germany and Japan.

 

A better example is obesity which is in Western societies almost entirely restricted to the lower classes.Look at London or New York where the successful upper/upper middle class tends to be slim while the fatties are almost always the uneducated (not always poor though). 

[mogandave]

Yeah, smoking killed both my mother and father. Dad at 85, mom at 89.

 

Dad’s brother Ray never smoked, killed him at 55.

[vogie]

On 12/26/2019 at 2:06 PM, car720 said:

Show me the non-statistical proof.  Just one case where anyone has been proven to die from either direct or passive smoke.

Passive smoking 'kills 600,000' worldwide

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-11844169

[EricTh]

I had an ex-classmate who learnt a Thai lesson that smoking is bad but he continued smoking after classes.

 

Says a lot of education and stubborness...

[mogandave]

I remember back in the sixties or seventies when they put warnings on cigarette packs my dad thought it was hilarious. As if smokers didn’t know it was bad for them. 
 

“Put warning on ice-cream that it will make you fat!”

[utalkin2me]

On 12/26/2019 at 2:06 PM, car720 said:

Show me the non-statistical proof.  Just one case where anyone has been proven to die from either direct or passive smoke.

This is the worst post I have ever seen, not in Thaivisa, but in any forum. Ever! 

 

Are you seriously denying a single person has ever died from secondhand cigarette smoke? The number is at about 2.5 million. 

 

That is seriously getting up there with being something like a holocaust denier. 

 

I have a better link for you, someone you may get along really well with: https://youtu.be/VpwcF3Malj8