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Seven million deaths were caused by tobacco use last year

The study made findings on life expectancy and causes of death.

ONE IN FIVE deaths worldwide is linked to poor diet – while seven million people died of tobacco-related illnesses in 2016.

The latest Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) is published today in The Lancet. The study shows the latest global estimates for the state of the world’s health. The GBD is the only annual, comprehensive, peer-reviewed assessment of global trends in health, providing global and national estimates on more than 330 diseases, causes of death, and injuries in 195 countries and territories worldwide.

The study is coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle, and involves more than 2,500 collaborators from across more than 130 countries and territories.

The study made findings on life expectancy and causes of death.

In 2016, the total number of live births was 128.8 million; the total number of deaths was 54.7 million (up from 42.8 million in 1970). Mortality rates have declined across all age groups, with the greatest progress made in under 5 mortality. Deaths among children under the age of 5 decreased to fewer than 5 million in 2016 for the first time, down from 16.4 million in 1970.

Today, the average global life expectancy for women is 75.3 years, and 69.8 years for men. Japan has the highest life expectancy (83.9 both sexes combined), and the Central African Republic has the lowest (50.2 years).

Diseases

Nearly 40 million died by non-communicable diseases, the report finds.

Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of premature mortality in all regions, apart from in low income countries where the leading cause was lower respiratory infections. Globally, ischaemic heart disease caused a total of 9.48 million deaths in 2016 – an increase of 19% globally since 2006. Diabetes caused 1.43 million deaths globally in 2016, an increase of 31.1% since 2006.

In 2016, there were 1.1 billion people living with mental health and substance use disorders, and major depressive disorders ranked in the top ten causes of ill health in all but four countries worldwide.

Tobacco was responsible for more than 7.1 million deaths. Poor diets were associated with nearly 1 in 5 (18.8%) of all deaths. In particular, diets low in whole grains, fruit, nuts and seeds, fish oils and high in salt were the most common dietary risk factors.

The authors note that the relatively poor track record for global risk reduction might in part reflect low investment, as compared to curative health care, as well as the continuing challenges of improving many risky behaviours.

“Our findings indicate people are living longer and, over the past decade, we identified substantial progress in driving down death rates from some of the world’s most pernicious diseases and conditions, such as under age-5 mortality and malaria,” says Dr Christopher Murray, IHME’s director.

Read: Ireland fares poorly on alcohol use, child sex abuse and suicide rate

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    Mute Sinead Mooney
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    Sep 15th 2017, 7:25 AM

    Give us a couple of years’ notice and make smoking illegal. Short term loss of revenue; long-term gains for health service. Be the first country in the world to make a stand.

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    Mute Jamie
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:09 AM

    @Sinead Mooney: ever hear of a thing called the black market?you’ll only push it underground to the criminals

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    Mute John Ryan
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:15 AM

    @Sinead Mooney: Be careful on your pronouncements – Leo “The Wise Sage” Varadkar could be reading this over his rice krispies

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    Mute Gillian Weir Scully
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:25 AM

    @Sinead Mooney: I am very grateful I gave up over a year ago. I was wondering if starvation comes under poor diet?

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:29 AM

    @Sinead Mooney: while smoking is a terrible addiction history shows us that making things illegal has little effect other than to enrich criminals and demonise addicts. Education and support are the best approach.

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:49 AM

    @Sinead Mooney: Short term loss of revenue, long term increased expenses on pensions and chronic health conditions in people who would otherwise have died from smoking. The economic argument against smoking doesn’t stack up.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Sep 15th 2017, 9:17 AM

    @Ben McArthur: you’re forgetting the considerable savings on healthcare costs. Any idea how much a lung costs to transplant? Or chemo?

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    Mute Cat Agatha
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    Sep 15th 2017, 4:16 PM

    @Sinead Mooney: Yeah, prohibition was a huge success in the USA.

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    Mute Audrius Neviera
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    Sep 15th 2017, 5:17 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: The study was done by a Swiss scientists proved that smokers dont cost any extra in healthcare that non smokers… Smokers just die younger, saving goverment millions in pension pay.

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    Mute Joe Harbison
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    Sep 15th 2017, 7:23 AM

    US policy of burning poppy fields in Afghanistan and Cocoa fields in Columbia is inconsistent with being one of the worlds largest exporter of tobacco. 50% of those beginning to smoke it will die from it. If they were really worried about preventing drug related deaths they would bomb North Carolina and Virginia.

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    Mute Jamie
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:08 AM

    And the funny thing is the people that are still smoking are paying large corporations to slowly poison them to death

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    Mute Darren Cooney
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    Sep 15th 2017, 11:44 AM

    @Joe Harbison: Where’s the sense, I say ban tabacco and free the weed

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    Mute Cat Agatha
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    Sep 15th 2017, 4:20 PM

    @Jamie: Really?

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    Mute Chris Parkhurst
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    Sep 16th 2017, 3:48 AM

    @Joe Harbison: Very little tobacco is still grown and processed in VA or NC. Also, the police and the industrial military complex make way too much money off of illegal drugs to consider better alternatives to the issue.

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    Mute John Mashey
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    Sep 16th 2017, 7:23 AM

    @Chris Parkhurst:
    https://www.statista.com/statistics/192022/top-10-tobacco-producing-us-states/
    2016:
    #1 NC 331.8Million lbs, down from 453.9M lbs in 2014
    #2 KY 136.3M lbs
    #3 VA 51.4M lbs

    NC accounts for more than half of total production.

    https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/index.htm
    “During 2016, about 258 billion cigarettes were sold in the United States—a 2.5% decrease from the 264 billion sold in 2015″

    That’s roughlly 800/person for 320M people in USA.
    Then there are cigars, smokless, e-cigs, etc.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:08 AM

    One of the professional bodies which most strongly advocates for and defends tobacco companies is the Laww Society of Ireland, the solicitors professional,body. Its Intellectual Property Committee and Members have been highly energetic in resisting government initiatives to encourage reduction in tobacco consumption.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    Sep 15th 2017, 9:38 AM

    Yet smoking is legal and cannabis is illegal . Where is the logic ???

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    Mute Shane Hickey
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    Sep 15th 2017, 7:59 AM

    “smoking related” this means whether you smoke or not. It is so non specific as to be wrong

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    Mute Sheila Bedford
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    Sep 15th 2017, 10:50 AM

    @Shane Hickey: second hand smoke is worse

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    Mute Gerard Heery
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    Sep 15th 2017, 8:53 AM

    Making room on this over populated planet.

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    Mute John Flood
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    Sep 15th 2017, 10:03 AM

    Oh. Thought that number was a bit high for Ireland.

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    Mute Sheila Bedford
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    Sep 15th 2017, 10:47 AM

    Disgusting dangerous habit

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    Mute Cat Agatha
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    Sep 15th 2017, 4:18 PM

    @Sheila Bedford: Wow. A penetrating new insight.

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    Mute Sean
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    Sep 15th 2017, 10:30 AM

    I’ve always wondered if people who take up smoking are weak-willed and easily led and that is why this same cohort finds it so difficult to quit.

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    Mute John Mashey
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    Sep 16th 2017, 7:07 AM

    @Sean: See post further downn for details. It is well-known that many adolescents do dumb things and Big Tobacco is entirely dependent on creating addiction during adolescent brain development, which varies, within ages ~10-24.
    Or study US Institute of Medicine (IOM, now National Academy of Medicine( study(2015)
    http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2015/TobaccoMinimumAgeReport.aspx

    In last 2 years, Hawaii, California, Oregon, New Jersey and Maine (and many US cities) raised smoking age to 21, based on science summarized by IOM.
    http://tobacco21.org/

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    Mute tom McCormack
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    Sep 15th 2017, 11:48 AM

    7 million is a lot of deaths..there are only 4.7 Million people in Ireland so how can 7 million be dead.

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    Mute Faaez Khan
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    Sep 15th 2017, 4:02 PM

    @tom McCormack: 7 million worldwide

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    Mute Kin_Free
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    Sep 26th 2017, 12:27 PM

    I have to admit that it is one hell of an achievement for the tobacco prohibition movement to convince so many, apparently intelligent people, to believe that; “Seven million deaths were caused by tobacco use last year”. When the reality is that NOT ONE death has EVER been proven to have been caused by smoking, despite decades of scientific research and £millions spent trying to find that elusive proof, this is no mean feat!

    This so-called ‘smoke related’ increasing death toll however is very real, it is just that smoking had nothing to do with them – the victims are mainly NON smokers (eg 80% lung cancer victims are non smokers today).

    How can so many, apparently intelligent, people be so easily convinced that smokers need to be eliminated for their protection, using any means necessary when (if you look at REAL science) clearly they are no threat whatsoever? We think we have moved-on from barbarism, superstition and extremist religion to a sophisticated, educated, civilised society today, but have we?

    Looking at history, I would often wonder why so many, apparently intelligent (albeit uneducated), (C17th) people would think that the little old lady along the street, minding her own business smoking her clay pipe, would be such a dangerous threat to their existence that they would need to burn her at the stake as a witch? Why did so many, apparently intelligent, (C20th) German people believe that the Jewish race was such a threat to their existence that they would allow, some even cheering on, their denormalisation and eventual mass genocide?

    Witnessing the same mentality at play today, egged on by so many anti-smoker sock-puppets and seeing it become more and more absurd as it develops, I begin to understand why.

    We haven’t moved on at all!

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    Mute Brendan Hughes
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    Sep 15th 2017, 9:11 AM

    #abillionlives

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    Mute Brendan Hughes
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    Sep 15th 2017, 9:13 AM

    @Brendan Hughes: http://abillionlives.com

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    Mute Patricia McCarthy
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    Sep 17th 2017, 11:30 AM

    Nothing to do with Carbon Monoxide poisoning then? Taking a deep breath of the foul pestilent air in any city centre has to be very good for the lungs.

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    Mute John Mashey
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    Sep 15th 2017, 11:29 PM

    See https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/907314477049061376 for details, but basically, for most people:
    1) Nicotine addiction only works during adolescent brain development, which often continues into early 20s.

    2) Most adult smokers want to quit, but can’t.

    3) Tobacco companies use “best” marketeers on Earth to induce adolescents to take risks & make mistake that eventually is fatal for about half of them. It’s not an adult decision to start smoking, but an error of adolescence. Of course, Big Tobacco then pays politicians & lobbyists to let them keep doing this.

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    Mute Nisa Kiman
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    Sep 26th 2017, 3:34 PM

    @John Mashey:

    It’s a long time since I’ve read such risible nonsense. Which planet are you living on?

    “Nicotine addiction only works during adolescent brain development…”

    What? Where on earth did you dig up that tripe? A great deal of research has been done on nicotine, and the general conclusion has been that nicotine is not actually addictive. There is no market for nicotine itself – in fact it can be bought very cheaply. If people were ‘nicotine addicts’, they would have progressed from the punitively expensive ‘soft’ stuff (cigarettes) to the much cheaper ‘hard’ stuff (pure nicotine), but of course, nobody has made that progression. Also, if it was the nicotine that people smoke for, then nicotine patches and gum wouldn’t have a 98% failure rate. No, nicotine is no more ‘addictive’ than the caffeine in your coffee. It’s a popular soundbite among anti-smokers, but has no basis in fact – same as most of their junk ‘science’.

    “Most adult smokers want to quit, but can’t.”

    Utter tosh. You’ve been listening to too many Tobacco Control propaganda soundbites. Most smokers enjoy smoking, and have no desire to quit whatsoever. What they do desire, though, is to get sanctimonious, holier-than-thou people like you off their backs. You are just another one of Tobacco Control’s ‘useful idiots’, parroting what you’ve been told without either questioning its veracity nor understanding its implications.

    “Tobacco companies use “best” marketeers on Earth to induce adolescents to take risks & make mistake that eventually is fatal for about half of them. It’s not an adult decision to start smoking, but an error of adolescence. Of course, Big Tobacco then pays politicians & lobbyists to let them keep doing this.”

    And how, pray, do their ‘best marketeers’ induce anyone to do anything when the tobacco companies aren’t even allowed to sponsor events, let alone ‘market’ their products?
    And as for ‘Big Tobacco’ paying lobbyists and politicians, that might have been a possibility fifty or sixty years ago, but these days it’s the anti-tobacco cadre who do all the lobbying and blackmailing of politicians. They like to portray themselves as the plucky David battling the mighty Goliath of ‘Big Tobacco’, but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Tobacco Control are awash with money, and the amount of money they spend on their misleading propaganda is something the tobacco companies could only dream about. The amount spent globally on anti-smoking propaganda dwarfs the GDP of most small countries.

    Back to school, Mr Mashey. Your ignorance is profound. Try actually reading original research papers instead of Tobacco Control handouts. You’ll find that proper scientific research tells a very different story to the one peddled by Tobacco Control.

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