More action to fight tobacco use needed worldwide, WHO report says

Laws that require graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging affect more than one billion people in 19 countries, but more needs to be done to cut smoking rates worldwide, the WHO said Thursday in its third report on the global tobacco epidemic, Reuters reports (Kelland, 7/7).

This year, nearly six million people will die of tobacco-related causes, with that number set to rise to eight million by 2030 if current trends continue, according to the report. Of those deaths, 80 percent will occur in low- to middle-income countries, Inter Press Service notes (Borda, 7/7).

The WHO recommends six demand-reduction measures, including large, graphic health warning labels; monitoring tobacco use; protecting people from tobacco smoke; helping users quit; enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and raising taxes on tobacco, according to a WHO press release (7/7).