International politicians are increasingly calling for a ban on the sale of tobacco products to young people. A Spanish research team has now calculated what this would mean worldwide for those born between 2006 and 2010. One result: more than 1.1 million fewer deaths from lung cancer.
“The concept of a tobacco-free generation aims to prevent the sale of tobacco to people of a certain birth cohort. (…) For our population-based simulation study of birth groups, we chose a scenario in which the sale of tobacco to people born between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 is prohibited. (…),” says Julia Rey-Brandariz from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
The results are calculated up to December 31, 2095. If current trends continue, there would be approximately 2.95 million deaths from lung cancer between 2006 and 2010, with more men than women.
40 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking
The research team estimated that at least 40 percent of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. A global smoking ban for the five birth cohorts would therefore prevent approximately 844,000 deaths among men and approximately 342,000 among women. Two-thirds of all lung cancer deaths are attributed to tobacco consumption.
To date, for example, tobacco sales bans apply in the cities of Balanga City in the Philippines and Brookline in the US state of Massachusetts. In New Zealand a corresponding law (ban from 2009) was abolished after a change of government, in Great Britain such a law was suspended after the general election.
Source: Krone
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