Tobacco use kills five million a year

TOBACCO use kills at least five million people every year, a figure that could rise if countries don’t take stronger measures to combat smoking, the World Health Organisation said yesterday.

In a new report on tobacco use and control, the UN agency said nearly 95% of the global population is unprotected by laws banning smoking. WHO said secondhand smoking kills about 600,000 people every year.

The report describes countries’ various strategies to curb smoking, including protecting people from smoke, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, and raising taxes on tobacco products. Those were included in a package of six strategies WHO unveiled last year, but less than 10% of the world’s population is covered by any single measure.