Tobacco atlas illustrates shift to low income countries

doi:10.1136/bmj.b981

Published 10 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b981
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b981

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Tobacco atlas illustrates shift to low income countries

Susan Mayor

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Nearly three quarters of deaths related to tobacco this yearwill be in low and middle income countries, shows an atlas publishedthis week. It illustrates the shift of the tobacco industry’sfocus to countries that lack effective public health policies.

The Tobacco Atlas brings together the latest research on thehealth, social, and economic effects of tobacco around the world.It estimates that tobacco takes $500bn (£360bn; ${euro}$ 400bn)from the global economy every year in lost productivity, misusedresources, ineffective taxation, and premature death, a figurethat is more than the total annual health budget in all lowand middle income countries.

In 2010 tobacco will kill six million people worldwide, 72%in low and middle income countries, says the atlas, which isproduced by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation.Since the 1960s tobacco leaf production has nearly doubled,increasing by 300% in low and middle . . . [Full text of this article]

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