Nearly 6-M die from smoking every year – WHO

Despite public health campaigns, smoking remains the leading avoidable cause of death worldwide, killing almost 6 million people a year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, July 10. If current trends hold, the number of deaths that are blamed on tobacco use will rise to 8 million a year in 2030, the WHO said in a briefing. About 80% of tobacco-related deaths forecast for 2030 are expected in low- and middle-income countries, the report added. Among the dead this year, 5 million were tobacco users or former users, while more than 600,000 died from second-hand smoke, according to the WHO. Tobacco use is believed to have caused the deaths of 100 million people in the 20th century.

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