The WHO has also called for countries to achieve a 25% reduction between 2008
and 2025 in the probability of dying from noncommunicable disease between 30 and
70 years of age.
10
Widespread cessation of smoking is the most important way to help
achieve this goal, because smoking throughout adulthood substantially increases mortality from several major noncommunicable diseases (and from tuberculosis).
1-3,11-19
To help achieve a large reduction in smoking in the 2010s or 2020s, governments,
health professionals, journalists, and other opinion leaders should appreciate the
full eventual hazards of smoking cigarettes from early adulthood, the substantial
benefits of stopping at various ages, the eventual magnitude of the epidemic of
tobacco-attributable deaths if current smoking patterns persist, and the effectiveness of tax increases and other interventions to reduce cigarette consumption.