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Wednesday, December 09, 2009 LONDON: Tobacco use kills at least 5 million people every year, a figure that could rise if countries don't take stronger measures to combat smoking, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.In a new report on tobacco use and control, the U.N. agency said nearly 95 percent of the global population is unprotected by laws banning smoking. WHO said secondhand smoking kills about 600,000 people every year.The report describes countries' various strategies to curb smoking, including protecting people from smoke, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, and raising taxes on tobacco products. Those were included in a package of six strategies WHO unveiled last year, but less than 10 percent of the world's population is covered by any single measure."People need more than to be told that tobacco is bad for human health," said Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative. "They need their governments to implement the ...

Saturday, August 29, 2009 WASHINGTON: Six million people worldwide will die from smoking-related illnesses next year, according to the annual Tobacco Atlas report from the American Cancer Society."Tobacco accounts for one out of every 10 deaths worldwide and will claim 5.5 million lives this year alone," the study said, predicting that current trends indicate that tobacco-related deaths could top 8 million annually by 2030."One hundred million people were killed by tobacco in the 20th century," the report said. "Unless effective measures are implemented to prevent young people from smoking and to help current smokers quit, tobacco will kill 1 billion people in the 21st century."The Tobacco Atlas said that there are 1 billion male smokers worldwide and 250 million female smokers, and that tobacco kills one-third to one-half of those who smoke.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 WASHINGTON: Tobacco use will kill 6 million people next year from cancer, heart disease, emphysema and a range of other ills, global cancer experts said in a report issued on Tuesday.The new Tobacco Atlas from the World Lung Foundation and the American Cancer Society estimates that tobacco use costs the global economy $500 billion (306 million pounds) a year in direct medical expenses, lost productivity and environmental harm."Tobacco's total economic costs reduce national wealth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 3.6 percent," the report reads."Tobacco accounts for one out of every 10 deaths worldwide and will claim 5.5 million lives this year alone," the report said. If current trends hold, by 2020, the number will grow to an estimated 7 million and top 8 million by 2030.Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on launched a tobacco centre to oversee cigarettes and other related products, after winning the...