Odysseys of George

* About a third of the male adult global population smokes.

* Smoking related-diseases kill one in 10 adults globally, or cause four million deaths. By 2030, if current trends continue, smoking will kill one in six people.

* Every eight seconds, someone dies from tobacco use.

* Smoking is on the rise in the developing world but falling in developed nations. Among Americans, smoking rates shrunk by nearly half in three decades (from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s), falling to 23% of adults by 1997. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.

* About 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily - or 10 million every minute.

* About 12 times more British people have died from smoking than from World War II.

* Cigarettes cause more than one in five American deaths.

* Among WHO Regions, the Western Pacific Region* - which covers East Asia and the Pacific - has the highest smoking rate, with nearly two-thirds of men smoking.

* About one in three cigarettes are consumed in the Western Pacific Region.

* The tobacco market is controlled by just a few corporations - namely American, British and Japanese multinational conglomerates.

Youth

* Among young teens (aged 13 to 15), about one in five smokes worldwide.

* Between 80,000 and 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day - roughly half of whom live in Asia.

* Evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years.

* Peer-reviewed studies show teenagers are heavily influenced by tobacco advertising.

* About a quarter of youth alive in the Western Pacific Region will die from smoking.

Health

* Half of long-term smokers will die from tobacco. Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average - about the time taken to smoke it.

* Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. It is a prime factor in heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease. It can cause cancer of the lungs, larynx, oesophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidneys.

* More than 4,000 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals have been found in tobacco smoke.

* One British survey found that nearly 99% of women did not know of the link between smoking and cervical cancer.

* One survey found that 60% of Chinese adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer while 96% were unaware it can cause heart disease.

* At least a quarter of all deaths from heart diseases and about three-quarters of world’s chronic bronchitis are related to smoking.

* Smoking-related diseases cost the United States more than $150 billion a year.

Advertising

* US-based multinational Philip Morris - the world’s biggest cigarette company - was the world’s ninth largest advertiser in 1996, spending more than $3 billion.

* A survey a few years ago found that nearly 80% of American advertising executives from top agencies believed cigarette advertising does make smoking more appealing or socially acceptable to children.

* Through advertising, tobacco firms try to link smoking with athletic prowess, sexual attractiveness, success, adult sophistication, adventure and self-fulfilment.

* A survey in the UK found about half of smokers think that smoking “can’t really be all that dangerous, or the Government wouldn’t let cigarettes be advertised”.

* A 1998 survey found that tobacco companies were among the top 10 advertisers in 18 out of 66 countries surveyed.

* In Asia, tobacco companies are among the top 10 advertisers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

* In Russia, according to press reports, foreign tobacco companies are the largest advertisers, accounting for as much as 40% of all TV and radio advertising.

* In 1997, the tobacco industry’s spending on advertising in the United States was about $15 million a day ($5.7 billion for the year).

* The tobacco industry has changed the way it advertises in the last 30 years. Now, only 10% of advertising expenditure goes to print and outdoor advertisements, while more than half goes to promotional allowances and items, such as t-shirts for young people or lighters and key rings.

* After the entry of foreign multinational tobacco firms into Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, youth and female smoking rose significantly.

MALAYSIA

* About half of all Malaysian men smoke.

* Every day about 50 teenagers below the age of 18 start smoking

* Studies show about 30% of adolescent boys (aged 12 to 18) smoke.

* Smoking among female teens is rising. According to two studies on teens conducted in 1996 and 1999, the numbers of female teens smoking rose from 4.8% to 8%. Overall, the 1999 study found nearly one in five teens smokes.

* Some studies have shown that lung cancer is rising at a rate of 17% a year.

* Smoking is estimated to have caused more than half a million coronary events.

* Smoking rates are highest in rural Kelantan and lowest in urban Penang and Sarawak.

* Although there are restrictions on advertising, tobacco companies have found ways to bypass these laws through using brand names and remain the top advertisers. Heavily advertised products include the Benson and Hedges bistro, Dunhill accessories, Marlboro clothing, Kent Horizon Tours and Salem Cool Planet concerts.

* Malaysia has been dubbed the “indirect advertising capital” of the world. Some of the tobacco industry’s most blatant efforts to target young people can be seen here.

* Spending on tobacco advertising is extremely high. In 1997, the industry spent about $90 million, while in the year 2000, two tobacco firms alone reportedly spent more than US$40 million.

* At least two tobacco companies were among the top 10 advertisers in recent years.
2002/WHO

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. So, with all that, why is so difficult to quit?

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