World No Tobacco Day

Global Tobacco Epidemic

Photo: People lifting a globe Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. This year, globally more than 5 million people will die from heart attack, stroke, cancer, lung disease, or other illnesses related to tobacco use. An additional 600,000 people—more than a quarter of them children—will die from exposure to secondhand smoke. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2030, tobacco use will kill about 8 million people each year. The global epidemic of tobacco use has killed 100 million people during the 20th century and could kill an estimated 1 billion people during the 21st century.

New Global Data

To draw attention to the worldwide tobacco use epidemic and the adverse health consequences of tobacco use, WHO created World No Tobacco Day (WNDT) in 1987. WNTD is celebrated around the globe every year on May 31st. In conjunction with WNTD, CDC has released a new report regarding cigarette package warning labels and smokers' interest in quitting because of the warning labels. CDC used 2008–2010 data from the Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) conducted in 14 countries (including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, the Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Viet Nam).

This report is the first to provide results for all 14 countries that participated in GATS. According to the report, all 14 countries had warning labels, and with few exceptions, most smokers (more than 90%) reported noticing a cigarette package warning. Findings also indicate that there was wide variation in thinking about quitting smoking because of the cigarette package warning (ranging from 76.6% of Brazilian women to 16.1% of Polish men).

Interactive Application

Concurrent with WNTD, CDC has also released a new interactive Web application—Global Tobacco Surveillance System Data, or GTSSData—that provides global tobacco-related data. Users can access information by specific survey, result type, indicator, or location (i.e., WHO region, country, or survey site). Information is presented in data tables and easily digestible fact sheets and country reports. The application will support countries' capacities to monitor tobacco use, guide national tobacco prevention and control programs, and facilitate comparison of tobacco-related data.