wfn.org | International tobacco use: smoke's thicker outside U.S.

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

March 25, 2002  News media contact: Joretta Purdue7(202) 546-87227Washington
10-21-71B{129}

NOTE: This report is a sidebar to UMNS story #128.
 
By United Methodist News Service

Smokers have become less conspicuous in the United States in recent years,
but globally, 1.1 billion people - or one-third of the world's adult
population - use tobacco, according to the World Health Organization.

Half of all smokers are expected to die prematurely, WHO warns. Those who
die before age 70 will have lost, on average, about 20 years of life
expectancy. Beyond that, their smoking puts their children, spouses and
neighbors at risk of premature death too.

Currently, about 3.5 million people die each year from tobacco-related
causes, and the figure is expected to reach 10 million annually by the early
2030s. More people are expected to die from tobacco-related illness over the
next 30 years than from the combined toll of AIDS, tuberculosis, automobile
accidents, maternal mortality, homicide and suicide combined.

Even with the established proof that smoking kills, tobacco companies still
seek to boost profits by increasing sales.
 
Although the 1998 settlement reached between tobacco companies and states
included a cessation of advertising directed at children and youth in the
United States, evidence indicates that this market has not been really
abandoned. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids cites Federal Trade Commission
reports showing advertising by the industry in 1999, the first year after
the historic settlement, increased 22 percent to $8.24 billion, or almost $1
million an hour.

The campaign further points to a study in the August 16, 2001, issue of the
The New England Journal of Medicine that shows advertising in magazines
popular with children and youth grew after the settlement. This confirmed
findings of an earlier study by the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health.

"Recent data suggest that one-third of young smokers start before the age of
10," according to material prepared for World No Tobacco Day 2002. "Youth
consumption of tobacco is up in many parts of the world. Most people who
start so young become addicted to nicotine very early in life. Unable to
quit, they become heavy users and continue using tobacco throughout their
lives. Millions of these young people will eventually die due to
tobacco-related causes."

One of the ways tobacco companies have continued to promote their products
is through the worldwide sponsorship of sporting events and the sale of
merchandise that bears their brand logos. WHO, together with other groups
including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and various
sporting organizations, has joined in a campaign for Tobacco Free Sports. As
a result, the recent Winter Olympic Games and the World Cup competition in
Korea and Japan did not accept tobacco companies as sponsors.

Such promotions have paid off in the past. World No Tobacco Day reports that
smoking among Indian teen-agers increased fivefold when an Indian associate
of British American Tobacco sponsored the Indian World Cup Cricket in 1996.
At the same time, a significant increase occurred in the number of people
who mistakenly thought smoking would not interfere with athletic
performance.

If current trends continue, WHO estimates that the number of smokers
worldwide will rise from 1.1 billion to 1.64 billion by 2025. A report
prepared for the International Policy Conference on Children and Tobacco
says that if those trends persist, 250 million children alive today
eventually will be killed by tobacco.

Tobacco use has declined in some developed countries, and less than 5
percent of the world's smokers live in the United States. The multinational
companies have shifted attention to other markets, and the use of tobacco
products is growing in many developing countries. 

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, associated with
the Center for Public Integrity, wrote in a 2000 story that British American
Tobacco reported $1.8 billion in profits on its global cigarette sales in
1998.  Its Latin American sales were the highest.  The journalists note that
Phillip Morris, the world's largest international cigarette company,
reported tobacco profits of $6.5 billion that year. Of that, $5 billion were
in non-U.S. sales, a 10 percent increase over the previous year. 

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United Methodist News Service
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