Tobacco kills millions of people, destroys millions of hectares annually: WHO

ANKARA:
According to the World Health Organization, tobacco use kills over 8 million people worldwide each year, and tobacco farming destroys nearly 3.5 million hectares (8.6 million acres) of land each year (WHO).

The “tobacco life cycle” not only harms human health, but it also harms the environment, as tobacco farming contributes to the deforestation of 200,000 hectares of land each year, as well as soil degradation.

The world marks World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31 annually to raise awareness about the health and environmental impacts.

With the theme Tobacco: Toxic Waste, this year’s campaign focuses on the environment that is impacted by the entire tobacco cycle, from its cultivation, production, and distribution to the toxic waste it generates.

“The campaign will also strive to expose the tobacco industry’s attempt to greenwash its reputation and sell its products as ecologically benign,” the WHO said in a statement.

In addition, not properly disposed of cigarette butts generate 1.69 billion pounds of harmful waste and unleash thousands of chemicals into the air, water, and land.

‘Greenwashing’

The WHO accused tobacco businesses of “greenwashing” in a report released in May in collaboration with the global tobacco watchdog STOP.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, greenwashing is “the deception disseminated by an organisation in order to project an environmentally responsible image.”

Talking Trash: Behind the Tobacco Industry’s “Green” Public Relations, according to the research, is an example of greenwashing because these sectors use “sustainable awards.”

“It may be said that the tobacco industry has attempted to greenwash its reputation and goods by participating in beach clean-ups and financing environmental and disaster relief organisations,” it continued.

Meanwhile, the survey revealed that tobacco corporations have stepped up their attempts to “rehabilitate their image,” with statistics indicating that greenwashing activities and advertising, as well as the amount of money spent on the process, have increased.

Tobacco kills 8 million people each year.

According to WHO estimates, tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year, with more than 7 million of those deaths resulting from direct

Around 1.2 million of these are nonsmokers who have been exposed to secondhand smoke.

More than 80% of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco smokers live in low- and middle-income nations, and smoking is responsible for 12% of fatalities among persons aged 30 and over.

To prevent more deaths and injury caused by tobacco use or manufacturing, the WHO advocates for stronger anti-tobacco policies.

“The WNTD 2022 campaign urges governments and policymakers to enhance legislation, including establishing and improving current programmes to hold producers accountable for the environmental and economic costs of dealing with tobacco waste products,” the statement continued.