Fighting the war against Big Tobacco will require access to information and sharing of resources.

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* Number of cigarettes consumed in industrial nations in 1962: 1,546 billion. In 2001: 2,201 billion. (1)

* Number of cigarettes consumed in developing nations in 1962: 625 billion. In 2001: 3,186 billion. (1) Developing countries now account for 70% of the world’s tobacco consumption.(5)

* Tobacco corporations spent over US$61.3 million to lobby the US Congress in 1998 to defeat tobacco control legislation,(2) plus a US$60 million advertising campaign to turn public opinion against the legislation.(3)

* WHO estimates that tobacco caused about 4.9 million deaths worldwide in 2000, or 8.8 per cent of the total, and was responsible for 4.1 per cent of lost DALYs (59.1 million). In 1990, it was estimated that tobacco caused just 3.9 million deaths, demonstrating the rapid evolution of the tobacco epidemic and new evidence of the size of its hazard, with most of the increase in developing countries. (4)

* By the year 2030, tobacco use is expected to cause approximately 10 million deaths, 70% of these in developing countries.(5)

* A report released in April 2002 by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that every pack of cigarettes sold in the US costs the country an estimated $7.18 in medical care costs and lost productivity, not to mention the 440,000 annual deaths caused by tobacco.

Sources:

1. “Population and Health,” Trends Datasets Index, Signposts 2002:Envisioning the Future, The Worldwatch Institute.

2. McAllister, Bill, “No Dearth of Lavish Lobbying in 1998,” Washington Post, May 11, 1999; Drinkard, Jim, “6-Month Lobby Price Tag: $702 Million,” USA Today, May 11, 1999.

3. Alvarez, Lizette, “U.S. Studies Whether Big Tobacco Tried to Trade Ads for Votes,” New York Times, August 31, 1998.

4. The World Health Report 2002 – Preventing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life

5. Research for International Tobacco Control (RITC) website