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It is estimated that there are more than 1 billion smokers in the world, half of whom will eventually die from a tobacco-related illness. The Tobacco Atlas highlights the global damage of tobacco consumption, drawing from the latest available data on Mexico and other countries. The book is a tool to help civil society and governments take decisive action to reduce the harms of tobacco, such as lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome.

Nearly 15 million people smoke in Mexico, making it one of the top 20 countries in terms of smoking population, with about three times as many male smokers as female smokers. Tobacco-related diseases are among the most preventable causes of mortality in the country; in 2005, ischemic heart disease was the second largest cause of death, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the fourth and fifth causes of death respectively, and cancer of trachea, bronchus, and lung was the 13th cause of death.

According to The Tobacco Atlas, tobacco use also costs Mexico $627 million per year in health-care expenditures, employee absenteeism, reduced labor productivity, lost tax opportunities, and premature death.

Mexico has shown substantial progress in tobacco control. It was the first country in the Americas to ratify the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first public health treaty. In 2008, it passed a federal tobacco control law, which included provisions on smoke-free public places, strengthened bans on advertising and sponsorship and mandated pictorial health warnings, which will come into effect later this year. In the same year, Mexico City passed a 100% smoke-free law, making it the largest smoke-free city in the Americas.

“Mexico should be congratulated for its commitment to tobacco control and for taking significant steps to reduce tobacco consumption and prevent smoking initiation. The Tobacco Atlas is crucial to understanding the nature of the most preventable disease epidemic in Mexico and throughout Latin America,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer, American Cancer Society. “Because Mexicans smoke fewer cigarettes per day in comparison to other nations, evidence-based cessation programs could be even more effective.”

“One of the most important aspects of tobacco control is informing government and the public about the dangers of tobacco and the clear policy steps that can prevent millions of deaths,” said Peter Baldini, chief executive officer, World Lung Foundation. “The Tobacco Atlas is an excellent tool for such information and we are pleased we could help bring it to Latin America via Mexico, which has already shown leadership in addressing the tobacco epidemic.”

Consumption of tobacco can cause serious economic losses – about US $500 billion globally.

• Because 25 percent of smokers die and many more become ill during their most productive years, income lost devastates families and communities.
• Cigarettes are the world’s most widely smuggled legal consumer product. In 2006, about 600 billion smuggled cigarettes made it to the market, representing an enormous missed tax opportunity for governments. According to The Tobacco Atlas, in Latin America, illicit trade comprises 20 percent of the market.
• Tobacco replaces potential food production on almost 4 million hectares of the world’s agricultural land, equal to all of the world’s orange groves or banana plantations.
• In developing countries, smokers spend disproportionate sums of money relative to their incomes that could otherwise be spent on food, healthcare and other necessities. The poorest 20 percent of households in Mexico spend more than 10 percent of their household income on tobacco.

The Tobacco Atlas also crystallizes an undeniable trend: the tobacco industry is exacerbating these negative health and economic effects by aggressively promoting their products. Tobacco companies are shifting from traditional advertising to point-of-sale promotions, and are using deceptive and subliminal forms of advertising, particularly through brand placement. Mexico continues to be a target of the industry; a search of the Legacy Web site of tobacco industry documents generated more than 100,000 documents relating to Mexico.

About the Authors
The four authors of the publication bring together an impressive array of credentials.
Michael Eriksen, Sc.D., is a professor and founding director of the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University. He has been a senior advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), and was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health.

Judith Mackay, M.D., is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Edinburgh and London, and a special advisor at World Lung Foundation. She is also a senior policy advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) and a director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control.
 

Hana Ross, Ph.D., is an economist and strategic director of International Tobacco Control Research at the American Cancer Society. She is also deputy director of the International Tobacco Evidence Network (ITEN), a network promoting collaboration among economists interested in tobacco control issues.

Omar Shafey, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a medical anthropologist and epidemiologist, and an adjunct professor of Global Health at Emory University. Among many publications and studies, he was a coauthor of the second edition of The Tobacco Atlas.

About The Tobacco Atlas, Third Edition
The Tobacco Atlas, Third Edition was previewed in 2009 at the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Mumbai, India. An updated version was released in August 2009 at the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit in Dublin, Ireland. The Spanish version has just been published and released in Mexico City, Mexico. For more information on how to obtain a copy of the book or download book PDF files, please visit www.TobaccoAtlas.org. In addition, Chinese and French versions will be released later this year. Data contained within The Tobacco Atlas are gathered from multiple sources and validated to ensure they present a holistic and accurate picture of tobacco and tobacco control across the globe.

On TobaccoAtlas.org, policymakers, public health practitioners, advocates, and journalists can interact with the data and create customizable charts, graphs and maps.

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About The American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, and with programs in more than 20 countries, we fight for every birthday threatened by cancer in communities worldwide. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; by helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying people across the globe to join the fight. As a global leader in cancer research investment, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. To learn more or to get help, and for more information on our global programs, visit www.cancer.org/global.

About World Lung Foundation
World Lung Foundation was established in response to the global epidemic of lung disease, which kills 10 million people each year. The organization improves global lung health by improving local capacity to conduct research, develop public policy and deliver public health education. The organization’s areas of emphasis are tobacco control, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, asthma, and child lung health. For more information, please visit worldlungfoundation.org

Editorial Contact:
Jessica Rivera
Martec Brodeur
jrivera@brodeur.com