Tobacco's Impact
Tobacco is responsible for the premature deaths of about 5 million deaths around the globe each year.
Each day, between 82,000 and 99,000 young people worldwide take up smoking, with most of them in middle- and low-income countries.
Several cancers (including lung cancer), as well as chronic lung disease, heart disease, stroke, and cataracts are associated with tobacco.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, resulting in more than 440,000 deaths each year and more than $75 billion in direct medical costs annually.
Approximately 80 percent of adult smokers started the habit before age 18.
Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers in the U.S.
Approximately 7.8 million people age 12 years and older currently use smokeless tobacco in this country.
Chewing tobacco and snuff contain 28 cancer-causing agents.
Sources: The World Health Organization, the World Bank Group, the National Cancer Institute
