Global public health
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Global public health · Jan 2006
ReviewThe global tobacco disease pandemic: nature, causes, and cures.
Tobacco use kills 5 million citizens globally every year. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that the number of deaths will double just 15 years from now. Tobacco will then constitute the leading cause of death in the developing world, as it already is in developed countries today. ⋯ The review includes examination of the economic and political strategies employed by the multinational tobacco industry to increase cigarette consumption, as well as the policies that governments have adopted to combat smoking. The most promising development is the new Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, WHO's first-ever international health treaty. While aggressive tobacco control policies can and will diminish the toll of tobacco, the prospects for the foreseeable future appear grim.