The world's first ever decline in male smokers
Beijing time on the 19th, the latest report of the World Health Organization (who) shows that the number of global male tobacco consumers is declining for the first time in history, which is a sign of progress in combating smoking related diseases and is expected to continue to decline in the next few years. At present, male smokers still account for more than three-quarters of the total number of global smokers.
According to the who, the number of male smokers in the world in 2020 is expected to decrease by about 2 million compared with that in 2018, and will further decrease by 4 million by 2025.
Who director general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus said the data marked "a turning point in the fight against tobacco."
Although the total number of global smokers decreased by about 4% to 1.34 billion between 2000 and 2018, this is mainly due to the decline in the number of female smokers.
The WHO says tobacco control measures such as taxes and banning smoking in public places have contributed to the reduction in the number of smokers. Other policies include banning tobacco advertising and providing smoking cessation support.
However, the use of e-cigarettes is not included in the WHO report. Ruediger krech, head of the WHO Department of health promotion, said he could not say whether e-cigarettes had an impact on the decline in the number of smokers. Who plans to issue its first statement on the risks associated with e-cigarettes in February next year.
According to who data, more than 8 million people worldwide die from tobacco related diseases every year, most of them in low - and middle-income countries.