Policies against snuff avoid 7.5 million premature deaths in 2050

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently published a study according to which it is expected that, thanks to the tobacco control policies established in 2005, 7.5 million premature deaths will be avoided in 2050. The WHO report estimates that by 2050 the number of smokers will have dropped by 15 million people in the 41 countries on which this forecast is based.

The measures - known as Mpower - are based on the most effective evidence to reduce tobacco use. This practice translates into policies to protect people from tobacco smoke , as well as offer help to smokers to stop this bad habit, in addition to warning of the dangers of tobacco for health, ban their advertising and promotion , and finally raise taxes on tobacco. Precisely the 41 countries on which the study is based are those that have already established some of these measures, although in fact many more countries have already adhered to the convention against smoking, reaching almost 90% of the population world .

One of the study's lead authors and professor of oncology at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, David Levy, has called the data "a spectacular finding" as it is a clear sign that with "these simple tobacco governments can save many lives ". And in addition to those deaths to be avoided, Levy also recalled that these same policies "can lead to other health benefits such as fewer adverse maternal outcomes related to maternal smoking (such as low birth weight) and the costs of health care. "

Despite such positive data, the WHO has clearly warned that it will be necessary to continue fighting against the avoidable epidemic in which smoking has become and that this means that governments continue to bet on this type of measures. The Director of the WHO Department of Noncommunicable Diseases, Douglas Bettcher, has insisted that "tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world , with six million annual deaths attributable to smoking, and these deaths are expected to increase to eight million by 2030. "