LONDON – The global effort to curb tobacco use has been severely set back by the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and ongoing conflicts, resulting in a failure to meet key reduction targets and leaving an estimated 95 million people smoking who might otherwise have quit, according to a report released on Friday. Endorsed by 57 public health and advocacy groups, the report reveals that global governments are now unlikely to meet their original goal of reducing smoking rates by 30% among individuals over the age of 15 between 2010 and 2025.
Originally tied to the United Nations’ 2015 sustainable development goals, the tobacco reduction timeline has now been pushed back by five years, following a 2024 extension that reflects shifting national priorities and resource reallocations away from tobacco control. These changes have impeded the full implementation of the World Health Organization’s tobacco control treaty, which has been ratified by 168 countries.
“This … delay represents an estimated 95 million additional tobacco users, who would otherwise have quit by 2025,” the report stated. Submitted to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the findings suggest that the global number of smokers will remain at 1,207,800,000 by 2025, far above the target of 1,112,400,000, according to a Reuters analysis based on population and smoking rates in the report.
The report, published by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Canada and backed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Cancer Research UK, and others, warned that these setbacks could lead to millions of preventable deaths from tobacco-related illnesses in the coming years.
The U.N. has already acknowledged that progress on most of its 17 sustainable development goals, which include reducing poverty and improving access to health and education, has been derailed due to funding shortages, geopolitical conflicts, and the lingering effects of the pandemic.
The authors and endorsing organizations of the report are now urging governments to recommit to tobacco control through proven policy tools such as higher taxes on tobacco products, expanded public smoking bans, and intensified public health campaigns. Without decisive action, they warn, the global health burden of tobacco use will remain unacceptably high.