The smoking epidemic - A billion lives up in smoke

AS PREDICTIONS go it’s fairly stark, especially when you consider all the millions spent on establishing the science and, later, spreading the message.

Yesterday, the WHO warned that at least a billion people will die in this century because of tobacco use.

Though our Government is vulnerable on many fronts, on this issue it can give itself a deserved pat on the back for the stand it took against smoking and the great efforts it made, despite powerful vested interests, to reduce the impact tobacco has on the nation’s health.