Articles

Global Tobacco Use

Global killer

· In industrialised countries, smoking is the biggest preventable cause of disease and premature death. Cigarettes kill half of all lifetime users.

· 5 million people die from tobacco related diseases each year. Half are in developing countries. By 2025, this will increase to 10 million deaths a year and 7 million of these will be in developing countries.

· 500 million people alive today will be killed by tobacco.

· Tobacco causes 1 in 10 of all adult deaths worldwide and it will soon become the leading cause of death.

· China, with 20% of the world’s population, suffers almost a million tobacco deaths a year. It is likely to double by 2025.

· Tobacco use indirectly increases poverty and malnutrition as money spent on tobacco could buy food. A packet of Marlboro will buy a dozen eggs inPanama, a kilogram of fish in Ghana or six kilograms of rice in Bangladesh.

Global Tobacco Production

· Tobacco is a temperate crop, grown in over 100, countries mainly in the developing world.

· China is the world's largest producer, followed by USA,India, Brazil and Turkey. These five countries produce nearly two-thirds of global output.

· Tobacco plants are prone to diseases so they use huge amounts of fertiliser, herbicide and pesticides. These toxins leach into the soil and end up in streams, rivers and food chains.

Global Tobacco Industry

· China’s Tobacco Corporation makes one quarter of the world’s cigarettes.

· Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco are the four largest multinational tobacco companies.

· Philip Morris/Altria is the world leader and controls 16.4% of the global market. BAT has 15.4% share. The multinationals are expanding overseas and each has plants in at least 50 countries.

· In 2002, Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris/Altria and BAT, had combined tobacco revenues of more than US$ 121 billion. This sum was greater than the combined GDP of 27 developing countries.

· Developing countries find it difficult to resist tobacco companies’ offers of jobs, exports and foreign exchange and funding for local schools and hospitals.

Global tobacco consumption

· About 1.3 billion people smoke 5.5 trillion cigarettes a year.

· One billion men and 300 million women use tobacco.

· In developed countries 35% of men and 22% of women smoke. In developing countries 50% of men and 9% of women are smokers.

· Women in developing countries are targets for the tobacco industry. Women’s smoking rates have increased in Cambodia,Malaysia and Bangladesh.

· Tobacco consumption has fallen in most developed countries and is projected to continue to decline.   Tobacco consumption in developing countries, particularly in the Far East and China is expected to increase.

· Asian countries were forced to open their markets to imported cigarettes or face trade sanctions. In South Korea, smoking amongst boys was 18%. A year after U.S. cigarette imports were allowed, it rose to 30%. Rates for girls rose from 2% to 9%.

Global Tobacco Production

· Tobacco is a temperate crop, grown in over 100, countries mainly in the developing world.

· China is the world's largest producer, followed by USA,India, Brazil and Turkey. These five countries produce nearly two-thirds of global output.

· Tobacco plants are prone to diseases so they use huge amounts of fertiliser, herbicide and pesticides. These toxins leach into the soil and end up in streams, rivers and food chains.

Global Tobacco Industry

· China’s Tobacco Corporation makes one quarter of the world’s cigarettes.

· Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco are the four largest multinational tobacco companies.

· Philip Morris/Altria is the world leader and controls 16.4% of the global market. BAT has 15.4% share. The multinationals are expanding overseas and each has plants in at least 50 countries.

· In 2002, Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris/Altria and BAT, had combined tobacco revenues of more than US$ 121 billion. This sum was greater than the combined GDP of 27 developing countries.

· Developing countries find it difficult to resist tobacco companies’ offers of jobs, exports and foreign exchange and funding for local schools and hospitals.

Tobacco Industry targets young people

· Up to 100,000 young people worldwide get addicted to tobacco each day.

· 250 million children alive today will die from tobacco-related disease if trends continue.

· The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars each year promoting its brands. If governments try to regulate tobacco advertising, the industry finds creative ways to reach youth. For example:

      In China, Philip Morris sponsors a trade-in, empty cigarette packs for backpacks, and lighters with Marlboro logos.

· In Malaysiaand Hong Kong R.J. Reynolds Tobacco sponsored tennis tournaments with tennis star Michael Chang, a teen idol.

· The “Asia Marlboro” road-race is featured on TV, to get around Chinese laws banning cigarette advertising on TV.

· Madonna’s concert in Spain was re-broadcast on Hong Kong TV as the “Salem(cigarettes) Madonna Concert”. The cigarette brand logo was superimposed over the stage.

· The Indian Tobacco Company (part BAT) paid US$16 million to put its cigarette logo on the national cricket team’s uniforms.