The human costs of tobacco and smoking worldwide are huge. 1.3 billion people use tobacco, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. More than 8 million people die prematurely because of tobacco, at an annual economic loss of at least US$1.4 trillion. And you don’t have to be a smoker to be harmed: secondhand smoke exposure kills nearly 400,000 women every year.
Asia is home to seven of the world’s top 10 countries with the highest number of smokers: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and Viet Nam. Yet, according to our recent research for the United Nations Development Programme, not enough being done to reduce tobacco’s harms.
