Tobacco control is essential to reduce non-communicable diseases and achieve the SDGs

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and diabetes, have now become a growing epidemic, undermining health systems and even national policies and socio-economic developments. Tobacco is the main risk factor, common to these four major categories of disease. Two-thirds of premature deaths due to noncommunicable diseases are linked to tobacco use. According to the WHO, tobacco use causes 8 million preventable deaths per year worldwide, of which nearly one million are linked to passive smoking. Tobacco not only means preventable diseases and premature mortality, but also imposes an additional economic burden on the community and a loss of productivity and production. The economic cost of tobacco use is estimated at USD 1,400 billion in 2012[1] and low- and middle-income countries supported 40%[2] of this cost. Therefore, tobacco control is essential to combat NCDs and also to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs. Despite its excellent record in terms of ratification, the implementation of the FCTC has been uneven. Recently, several countries in Africa, Asia and South America have strengthened their national tobacco control plans by adopting various measures (fiscal, establishment of smoke-free public places, banning advertising, etc.). However, many countries, particularly developing countries, that are parties to the treaty, face national obstacles, particularly linked to low political commitment, insufficient resources and interference from the tobacco industry. If governments are to make progress in preventing noncommunicable diseases, they will need to reduce tobacco use and build on the effective lessons of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world's first public health treaty, which entered into force in 2005.  

To learn more about the measures adopted and to be adopted

©Generation Without Tobacco

---

[1] Goodchild M, Nargis N, Tursan d'Espaignet E Global economic cost of smoking-attributable diseases Tobacco Control 2018;27:58-64. [2] Ibid ©National Committee Against Smoking |