The Burden of Smoking
Despite clear evidence about the dangers of smoking, relatively few smokers fully grasp its health risks.1
People may know generally that smoking is harmful, but it is usually seen merely as a bad habit that people choose to indulge in.1
Many smokers cannot name specific diseases caused by smoking other than lung cancer and do not know that smoking also causes heart disease, stroke and many other diseases, including many types of cancer.1
The extreme addictiveness of tobacco and the full range of health dangers have not been adequately explained to the public. Consequently, people believe they can stop smoking before health problems occur. The reality is that most smokers will be unable to stop smoking, and up to half will die from smoking-related illnesses.1 |
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Smoking is the single-most preventable cause of death in the world1
Every 6 seconds a person dies of a smoking-related disease1
Every cigarette smoked, takes 7 minutes off your life.2
Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body2,5 and is a risk factor for 6 of the 8 leading causes of death in the world, including1
- Heart disease
- Pulmonary disease
- Various cancers2,3
People who are exposed regularly to second hand smoke have a 20-30% increase in lung cancer risk and a 23% increase in heart disease2.
Children are at particular risk from adults smoking including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (or cot death), middle-ear infection and lung disease2 |