World Cancer Day 2017

Cancer and tobacco why

sustainable development needs unity
and commitment to tackle tobacco

Anne Jones OAM

Tobacco Control Advisor
Cancer and tobacco
#1 Cancer is a leading cause of death and
disease worldwide
8.2m deaths
14m new cases each year
Expected to increase 70% over next
two decades
(World Cancer Report, 2012)
Over 20% is preventable
#2 Over 20% of all cancer deaths caused
by tobacco use
- not just lung cancer but increases
risk of 14 different types of cancers
- leading risk factor for NCDs that will
kill 38m pa with most deaths in low-
and middle-income countries
(Global status report on NCDs, 2014)
 Size of the problem
#3 Nearly one billion people in the world use
tobacco daily with 80% in LMICs
-Over 6m people die from tobacco use every
year, the majority in their most productive
years (30-69 years of age)
-Over 12% of boys smoke and 7% of girls
and many also use other forms of tobacco
(GTSS Atlas).
 Harm to others
Exposure to second-hand smoke is
responsible for at least 600,000 deaths each
year among non-smokers

Nearly half of these deaths occur among

women and over a quarter among children
under the age of five
(Tobacco Atlas, 2012)
 Links to poverty
#4 Tobacco use is higher among poor
people and is a fundamental barrier for
development
- Costs increasing and disproportionate
burden borne by LMICs

(Tobacco: a barrier to sustainable development

http://www.fctc.org)
 High costs of tobacco
#5 Tobacco use costs are rising alarmingly in
LMICs more than US$1 trillion pa in health
care, lost productivity
-And yet costs of delivering four best buy
tobacco control measures are approx. US$0.11
per capita

(The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control, NIH and WHO,

2017; Tobacco Atlas, 2012)
 Selling death
#6 The vector for this global tobacco
epidemic is a powerful, trans-national
industry using aggressive acquisition and
marketing strategies to expand use
A major tactic is interference in health, trade and
fiscal policies to keep tobacco tax reforms weak
and health strategies under-funded
 Challenges
#7 Progress has been delayed by
tobacco industry interference
and slow response time of
governments facing rising
healthcare costs and lost
opportunities to invest in
sustainable development
 We know what to do
#8 WHO FCTC is the legally binding
treaty ratified by 180 countries in
past decade to implement package of
evidence based measures including
100% smokefree laws, GHWs,
comprehensive bans on TAPS, protecting
health policies from TI interference -
and raising tobacco taxes as single
most effective policy to reduce
tobacco use
 Unity and commitment
#9 Stronger unity and commitment
across nations is needed to raise
tobacco taxes and a mechanism for
sustainable funding of health
#10 We can prevent at least 20% of
cancer deaths by engaging the media,
civil society and governments in
putting health first and ahead of the
interests of the tobacco industry.
 Tobaccofreeunion.org
Index of tobacco control sustainability
(ITCS): a tool to measure the sustainability
of national tobacco control programs

The FCTC Article 5.3 Toolkit:

Guidance for Governments on
Preventing Tobacco Industry
Interference