Anti-tobacco policies will prevent 7.5 million premature deaths by 2050

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently published a study that predicts that tobacco control policies put in place in 2005 will prevent 7.5 million premature deaths by 2050. The WHO report estimates that by 2050 the number of smokers will have fallen by 15 million people in the 41 countries on which this forecast is based.

The measures established – known as Mpower – are based on the most effective evidence to reduce tobacco consumption. In practice, this translates into policies to protect people from tobacco smoke, as well as offering help to smokers to quit this bad habit, warning of the dangers of tobacco to health, banning its advertising and promotion, and finally increasing taxes on tobacco. The 41 countries on which the study is based are precisely those that have already established some of these measures, although in reality many more countries have already adhered to the anti-smoking convention, which together account for almost 90% of the world’s population.

One of the main authors of the study and Professor of Oncology at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, David Levy, described the data as “a spectacular finding” since it is a clear demonstration that with “these simple tobacco control policies governments can save many lives”. And, in addition to those deaths that will be avoided, Levy also reminded us that these same policies “can lead to other health benefits such as fewer adverse birth outcomes related to maternal smoking (such as low birth weight) and lower health care costs”.

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In spite of such positive data, the WHO has clearly warned that it will be necessary to continue fighting against the preventable epidemic that smoking has become, and that this means that governments must continue to support this type of measures. The director of the WHO’s Department of Non-communicable Diseases, Douglas Bettcher, has also stated that “tobacco consumption is the leading preventable cause of death in the world, with six million deaths per year attributable to smoking at present, and these deaths are expected to increase to eight million by 2030”.