WHO, there is less and less smoking in the world. But it’s only half good news
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According to the latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco consumption globally is decreasing: if in 2000 there were 1.36 billion smokers over 15, in 2022 they dropped to 1.25. A positive trend for global health, certainly, but worse than hoped for: the plans for 2025 envisaged a 30% decrease compared to 2010 data, which is unlikely to be achieved.
Where you smoke and how much
If in 2000 one in three people was a smoker, in 2020 the share has dropped to one in five adults. The WHO report states that the trend towards decreasing tobacco consumption is common to 150 countries in the world, while six countries (Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman and the Republic of Moldova) are bucking the trend. Only 56, however, will reach the global target of 30% reduction compared to 2010 rates. Among these, Brazil stands out, with a relative reduction of 35%, and the Netherlands, also close to the desired -30%.
The South-East Asia region is now the area with the highest percentage of smokers (26.5%). However, with 25.3% of the adult population still consuming tobacco, the European region is not far behind and experts predict that by 2030 it will be the area with the highest rates globally (around 23%). Furthermore, Europe holds another sad record: here the percentages of tobacco consumption among women are more than double the global average and are decreasing much more slowly than in other regions.
Smoking in Italy
Italy is in line with the European average: in 2022 the tobacco consumption rate among over-15s was estimated at 22.4%, with a higher prevalence among males (25.7%, around 6 million smokers) compared to females (19.1%, almost 4.5 million smokers). If the forecasts for our country are confirmed, in 2025 22.1% of the population will use tobacco – a relative reduction of just 9.4% compared to 2010 values.
“Smoking and nicotine addiction have a strong negative impact on health and are responsible for many clinical conditions, often disabling and with great social repercussions, from emphysema to cardiovascular diseases, to tumors in various locations such as lung, bladder, breast, head, neck and pancreas. The latter, among other things, is one of the solid tumors on the rise in Italy and Europe – he comments Silvia NovelloProfessor of Medical Oncology at the University of Turin and President of the Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe association (WALCE) – Lung cancer is one of the main oncological diseases associated with smoking. Even today, over 80% of patients who sit in clinics with lung cancer are or have been smokers.”
A worrying fact is that, despite an overall decrease in the population that uses tobacco products, in Italy (and not only) there is an increase in smoking habits among women, many of whom are very young. As Novello points out, there are differences between males and females in the depth of inhalation, in the number and type of tobacco products consumed, but in fact the gap between genders has closed, with a consequent increase in incidence and mortality from lung cancer. There is still a lot of work to be done, both in terms of prevention and cessation of nicotine addiction. “One of the main difficulties to be resolved at the level of health policies concerns awareness campaigns on tobacco products – explains Novello – these must be designed specifically for the population to be reached, differentiated by age and gender”. Messages, language, communication channels, any testimonials must be tailored based on the target: “It’s complicated, it involves the commitment of many economic resources and in terms of personnel, but we have noticed that generalization can even be counterproductive and like WALCE we we are committed to personalizing every activity.”
In July 2023, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) released updated guidelines for the treatment of tobacco and nicotine addiction. “It is certainly an important and useful document in daily practice – concludes Novello – remembering, however, that to date even the programs for smoking cessation and the distribution of anti-smoking centers lack capillarity: there are not enough of them in the area and there is a lack of capable staff to deal with both the clinical sphere and the psychological path”.
The unknown of electronic cigarettes
The WHO report does not include exhaustive data on the use of electronic cigarettes: the information collected from the various countries is still insufficient for a complete analysis. Without forgetting that while on the one hand there are those who claim they can be a useful tool for quitting smoking, on the other they still create addiction and can be a gateway to other forms of consumption.
Second Ruediger Krech, director of the WHO Department for Health Promotion, cigarettes are still the workhorse of the tobacco industry globally, but it is clear that it is working to fuel addiction to nicotine-based products, shifting demand from traditional tobacco to other products (vaping ones for example) presented as safer. Finally, Krech warns governments against the tobacco lobby’s interference in health policies, encouraging them to do more and better to protect young people in particular.
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