By 2030, 10 million people will die from smoking

According to the warning of the International Lung Association, by 2030, tobacco-related diseases could kill 10 million people a year, double the current figure.

On November 9, Judith Longstaff Mackay, senior official of the International Lung Association (WLF), said that among those who die every year, most will belong to developing countries.

According to Mackay, currently the coordinator of the global tobacco control program under WLF, although tobacco markets are now shrinking in developed countries, it is expanding in developing countries. - where the number of smokers and the number of cigarettes smoked every day is increasing.

As a senior WHO advisor and a critic of tobacco industry policies, Mackay said: ' There are about 3 million deaths a year from tuberculosis and up to 5 million. people die every year from tobacco-borne diseases, and these numbers are increasing . '

'In Asia alone, with increasing purchasing power in the market and increasing business success, people are buying more and more cigarettes' (Photo: Uoguelph.ca)

At a recent international conference on lung disease, Mr. Mackay emphasized: ' By 2030, that 5 million figure will increase to nearly 10 million, ie double, and will be a huge burden. for developing countries '.

WLF is currently cooperating with international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), to promote the implementation of lung-related health programs. According to WLF, smoking is a major cause of lung, throat, bladder and other serious diseases .

According to Mackay, although there is too much scientific evidence about the harmful effects of tobacco on human health, more and more people smoke. It is estimated that the number of smokers will increase to 1.64 billion people by 2030 compared to the current 1.3 billion.

According to the American Cancer Society, sales of the global tobacco industry are estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars each year. China and the United States are the two largest cigarette producers in the world. The association describes China as a " slow-blasting bomb " with about 320 million people smoking, while in the United States, nearly one in every five cases comes from cigarettes.

According to the 2006 edition of The Tobacco Atlas, the four leading countries in the world in terms of the number of male smokers are Yemen, Djibouti, Cambodia and China.

Mackay said: ' In Asia alone, with increasing purchasing power in the market and increasing business success, people are buying more and more cigarettes.' However, he said that by enacting a ban on smoking in public places and banning tobacco advertising in any form, some developing countries are gaining good results in reducing the number of smokers.

Quang Thinh