Global tobacco use declining, says report

Trends in 2022 showed a continued decline in tobacco use rates globally. With about one in five adults worldwide consuming tobacco compared to one in three in 2000.

The report shows that 150 countries are successfully reducing tobacco use. Brazil and the Netherlands are seeing success after implementing MPOWER tobacco control measures, with Brazil making a relative reduction of 35 per cent since 2010 and the Netherlands on the verge of reaching the 30 per cent target.

Ruediger Krech, director of the WHO department of health promotion, said, “Good progress has been made in tobacco control in recent years, but there is no time for complacency. I’m astounded at the depths the tobacco industry will go to pursue profits at the expense of countless lives. We see that the minute a government thinks they have won the fight against tobacco the tobacco industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policies and sell their deadly products."