Abstract
Tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable death, including cancer death, worldwide. The World Health Organization has estimated that, globally, smoking is responsible for 12% of male deaths and 6% of female deaths and that the total number of tobacco-attributable deaths will rise from 5.4 million in 2005, to 8.3 million in 2030. Increasingly, the burden of tobacco mortality is shifting from high-income countries to low- and middle-income countries; between 2002 and 2030, tobacco-attributable deaths in low- and middle-income countries are projected to double from 3.4 million to 6.8 million, while deaths in high-income countries are projected to decline by 9%. In many countries, including the U.S., tobacco use is stratified by socioeconomic status and other demographic variables, and is an important contributor to disparities in health outcomes, including cancer health outcomes. The Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first treaty ever negotiated under the auspices of the WHO, aims to “protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social and environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke by providing a framework for tobacco control measures.” As of January 2011, 172 countries are parties to the FCTC, which has become a crucial force spurring the development of evidence-based tobacco control policies around the world. This presentation will provide a broad overview of the global tobacco epidemic, and its impact on global cancer mortality. It will make use of the traditional epidemiologic model which posits that the agent (diverse tobacco products and secondhand smoke), host (individual user), and vector (tobacco manufacturers), interact in an environment that is shaped by familial, social, cultural, historical, legal, regulatory, economic, media, and other forces.
Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):PL05-01.
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