

Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers and are popular, as they do not harm business and they encourage smokers to quit. More than 4000 chemicals have been identified in tobacco smoke and there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.īased on the scientific evidence, the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) has concluded that 100% smoke-free environments are the only proven way to adequately protect the health of people from the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke. Second-hand tobacco smoke is the smoke emitted from the burning end of a cigarette or from other smoked tobacco products (such as bidis and water-pipes) and the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Key measures to reduce the demand for tobacco The economic costs of tobacco use are substantial and include significant health care costs for treating the diseases caused by tobacco use as well as the lost human capital that results from tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality. Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco. Over 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest. Other tobacco products include waterpipe tobacco, various smokeless tobacco products, cigars, cigarillos, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidis and kreteks. Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use worldwide. The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 8 million people a year, including around 1.2 million deaths from exposure to second-hand smoke (1).Īll forms of tobacco are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco.
