27 May 2015 – One in every 10 cigarettes consumed is illicit, making them cheaper and more accessible to people from low-income groups, as well as to children, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned ahead of this year’s World No Tobacco Day, devoted to combatting the illegal tobacco trade. “The tobacco epidemic is one of the world’s biggest-ever public health threats, killing nearly six million people annually,” WHO said in a factsheet on tobacco released today.
“Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030.” And nearly 80 per cent of the world's one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest, according to WHO. WHO went further to warn that tobacco, which caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century, may cause one billion deaths in the 21st…
