Curbing the Epidemic : Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control

Tobacco will kill 4 million people in the next 12 months. By 2030 it will be killing 10 million people a year, more than any other single cause, and 7 million of these deaths will be in low-income and middle-income countries, where cigarettes were once rare. As educated and prosperous people abandon smoking, the practice is becoming increasingly concentrated among the poor in most societies. In the rich countries at least, its damaging effects on health are responsible for a large part of the ill health and premature death of the poor. Yet many governments have hesitated to act to control tobacco because of concerns about the economic effects of their action. For example, many policymakers fear that by reducing tobacco consumption they will cause permanent unemployment.