Presentation to the directors of the National Cancer Institutes of Latin America in Brazil in March 2013

1. Global Tobacco Control and Cancer Prevention
National Cancer Institutes in Latin America
March 12, 2013
Michael Eriksen, ScD
Dean, Institute of Public Health
Georgia State University

2. How much is a life worth?

3. Globally, 6 million preventable
deaths annually from tobacco…
• Tobacco accounts for more than 16% of male
and 7% of female deaths globally
• 80% of deaths occur in LMIC
• 100 million deaths in
20th century and one billion
deaths in 21st century

4. Smoking kills in Proportion of all deaths
attributable to tobacco
Latin America… Male
Deaths %
Female
Deaths %
Argentina* 19 6
Bolivia 8 2
Brazil 15 6
Chile 11 8
Colombia 9 8
Cuba* 21 18
Peru 4 4
Uruguay 24 5
Venezuela 11 11
* Have not ratified FCTC

5. Smoking harms the entire body…

6. Cancer from smoking causes more
deaths than all other cancers
combined…

7. If you are concerned about NCDs,
tobacco must be a priority…

8. “Forced smoking” kills people…
• 600,000 deaths annually from secondhand
smoke exposure (mostly women and children)
• Over 50% of the people in the Western Pacific
region are exposed to secondhand smoke
(highest rate in the world)

9. Cigarette smoking is a 20th century
phenomenon…

10. Cigarette consumption varies
greatly by region…
• Consumption shifting from West to East (1990-2009)
• Western Europe dropped 26%
• Middle East and Africa increased 57%

11. Five countries smoke more than half
of the world’s cigarettes…

12. There are over one billion adult
smokers in the world…
• 1 billion adult smokers worldwide (80% are men)
– nearly 20% of all adults
• 80% of male and 50% of female
smokers are in low- and
middle-income countries
• Men’s smoking rates are ten times
as high as women’s in 49 countries
• But there is major progress in many
countries

13. 800 million men smoke
worldwide…

14. 200 million women smoke worldwide
now, but what about the future?

15. Latin American current cigarette
smoking - a cause for concern…
Male % Female % Boys % Girls % Youth SHS
exposure in
home %
Argentina 31.2 20.1 21.1 27.3 54.7
Bolivia 41.7 17.8 20.3* 12.0* 34.3*
Brazil 21.6 13.1 9.2* 13.2* 35.5*
Chile 36.9 30.2 28.0* 39.9* 51.7*
Colombia 23.8 11.1 28.6* 30.7* 27.6*
Cuba 42.9 29.4 8.7 13.1 51.5
Peru 42.6 8.8 22.9 11.9 25.5
Uruguay 30.9 21.9 16.4 22.9 50.5
Venezuela 31.6 26.5 6.0 8.4 43.5
*subnational data

16. Is youth smoking the next
epidemic?
• Boys’ and girls’ smoking rates
differ by less than 5 percentage
points in almost half of the
world’s countries
• Girls smoke more than boys
in at least 25 countries,
including Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Cuba,
Uruguay and Venezuela

17. Two of the world’s largest tobacco
growers are in Latin America…
• Between 2000 and
2009, Brazil’s
tobacco leaf
production
increased by 49%
and Argentina by
39%
• More than 170,000
individuals are
involved in growing
tobacco in southern
Brazil

18. Does corporate social responsibility and
philanthropy negate global harm?
In 2010, PMI donated only $25 million from their
$7.5 billion profits to charitable causes
(less than 1% of net profits)

19. Tobacco is very big business…
• Global cigarette market valued at almost half a
trillion dollars (taxes excluded)
• Comparable to GDP of Poland and Sweden
• CNTC manufactured 2.1 trillion of the world’s 5.9
trillion cigarettes (2008)

20. Tobacco companies profit on
each tobacco-related death…
• $35 billion in annual profits
• 6 million deaths each year
• Nearly $6,000 in profit for every death
caused by tobacco

21. Evidence-based solutions are a must…
Outlined in WHO FCTC, MPOWER
and U.S. Surgeon General’s Reports
• Tax increases
• Clean indoor air laws
• Advertising bans
• Graphic warning labels

22. Michael Eriksen, ScD
Dean, Institute of Public Health
Georgia State University
meriksen@gsu.edu
Additional information available at:
TobaccoAtlas.org
TobaccoPortal.org