Thread by @IHME_UW

📣✨ 3 global studies on #smoking published today in @TheLancet & @TheLancetPH using data from 3,625 surveys #GBDstudy.

🚬 Latest data finds nearly 8 million deaths from smoking in 2019 & 90% of new smokers addicted by age 25.

📄➡️thelancet.com/journals/lance…

🚭📊 The global numbers as of 2019:

▪️ Number of smokers increased to 1.1 billion
▪️ Caused 7.7 million deaths
▪️ Over 1/2 of countries showed no progress in reducing smoking among 15-24 year olds
▪️ 1 in 3 current tobacco smokers live in China

Since 1990, global smoking prevalence among men decreased ⬇️ by 27% and by 37% among women. However, 20 countries saw significant increases in prevalence among men and 12 saw significant increases among women.

🌎🌍🌏🚬 Countries with the largest number of tobacco smokers in 2019:

1⃣China
2⃣India
3⃣Indonesia
4⃣USA
5⃣Russia
6⃣Bangladesh
7⃣Japan
8⃣Turkey
9⃣Vietnam
🔟 Philippines

📣🚭 The authors call on all countries to urgently adopt and enforce a comprehensive package of evidence-based policies to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and prevent initiation, particularly among adolescents and young adults.

🚭🚭🚭 Learn more in our press release: bit.ly/TobaccoResearch

The studies by the Global Burden of Disease collaboration #GBDstudy provide global estimates on smoking prevalence in 204 countries in men & women aged 15+ including age of initiation, associated diseases, as well as the first analysis of global trends in chewing tobacco use.

“...the tobacco epidemic will continue for years to come unless countries can dramatically reduce the number of new smokers starting each year,” said the study’s lead author @MarissaReitsma, a researcher at IHME.

theguardian.com/society/2021/m…

🚬 90% of current smokers began smoking by the age of 25 and 20%, 1 in 5, began smoking regularly by the age of 15.

"The fact that initiation occurs during this very narrow age window provides a clear opportunity for intervention," says lead author @MarissaReitsma.

Lockdowns at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic forced billions of people to stay home, possibly exposing many to ⬆️ levels of 🚬 secondhand smoke.

IHME experts Chukwuma Okereke, Louisa Johnson, & @luisaflorr share insights with @ThinkGlobalHlth ⤵️
thinkglobalhealth.org/article/unknow…

🚬🌎🌍🌏 Secondhand smoking was linked to 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2019.

Children are particularly vulnerable as they develop & women face a greater burden of exposure to secondhand smoking at home, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Smokers are lighting up indoors during lockdowns in the majority of households in many countries, and having children in the household did not appear to deter people from smoking indoors.

Health leaders should consider:

🚭Measures to eliminate exposure like banning smoking in public spaces & multiunit housing facilities through smoke-free initiatives

🚭Encouraging voluntary adoption of indoor smoking restrictions at home

🚭Increasing smoking cessation programs

https://twitter.com/maciejbanach/status/1398405281139339271

🚬🌏🌍🌎 About 35% of the world’s population is exposed to tobacco smoke at home or at work.

🚭⚕️ IHME Senior Fellow Luisa Flor discusses the health risks of secondhand smoke and ways that policy leaders can improve the health of their populations.

📄bit.ly/GBD20-SmokingT…