WASHINGTON, Aug 27, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Tobacco use kills an estimated 6
million people annually and more than one-third of those people die from cancer,
British and U.S. researchers say.
Hana Ross of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Judith Mackay of the Royal
Colleges of Physicians of Edinburgh and London, Omar Shafey of Emory University
and Michael Eriksen of the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State
University are authors of the "Tobacco Atlas." The researchers say tobacco
drains $500 billion annually from global economies as a result of lost
productivity, misused resources, missed opportunities for taxation and premature
death.
The consequences of tobacco use are preventable through proven public policies
such as tobacco taxes, advertising bans, smoke-free public places and effective
health warnings on packages, the researchers say.
The tobacco industry has shifted its marketing and sales efforts to countries
that have less effective public health policies and fewer tobacco control
resources in place, the researchers say.
In 2010, 72 percent of those who die from tobacco related illnesses will be in
low- and middle-income countries, says "The Tobacco Atlas" (Third Edition),
published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation.
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