- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
- Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
- Huge protests in Argentina over public university cuts
- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
- Thunderstorms are a 'boiling pot' of gamma rays, scientists find
- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
- Spain welcomed record number of tourists this summer
- France says coming tax hikes on the wealthy to be 'temporary'
- Why are Thailand's roads so deadly?
- Oracle to invest $6.5 bn in Malaysian cloud services region
- Parkrun marks 20 years of a free weekly jog, run... or walk
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong soars again
- Prostitutes, prospectors drive spread in DR Congo mpox capital
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong resumes surge
- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
RYCEF | 0.14% | 6.91 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 59.99 | $ | |
GSK | -2.15% | 39.45 | $ | |
AZN | 1.14% | 79.58 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 24.78 | $ | |
RIO | -0.48% | 70.82 | $ | |
BTI | -1.33% | 35.97 | $ | |
SCS | -2.56% | 12.87 | $ | |
NGG | -1.85% | 68.78 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 32.37 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.04% | 24.93 | $ | |
VOD | -2.16% | 9.74 | $ | |
RELX | -0.11% | 47.29 | $ | |
BCE | -1.13% | 34.44 | $ | |
BCC | -1.33% | 139.53 | $ | |
JRI | -1.12% | 13.38 | $ |
Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
Banning the sale of tobacco to people born between 2006 and 2010 could prevent around 1.2 million deaths from lung cancer by the end of the century, said a modelling study released Thursday.
Smoking is responsible for roughly 85 percent of all cases of lung cancer, the deadliest cancer worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
If current trends continue, there will be nearly three million lung cancer deaths among people born from 2006 to 2010, said the new study from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
But if tobacco sales were banned for these 650 million people, around 1.2 million deaths could be prevented by 2095, estimated the modelling research published in The Lancet Public Health journal.
The study, one of the first studies aiming to assess the impact of a tobacco-free generation, drew on data about cancer cases and deaths from 185 countries.
More than 45 percent of lung cancer deaths among men around the world could be prevented, and nearly 31 percent among women, the research found.
"This difference is linked to the tobacco industry's gender-targeted marketing over the past few decades," IARC researcher and study co-author Isabelle Soerjomataram said in a statement.
- Schemes already underway -
But in some regions -- North America and parts of Europe, Australia and New Zealand -- ending tobacco sales could prevent more deaths among women than men, the modelling suggested.
The most lives -- 78 percent -- could be saved among women in western Europe, while the highest rate for men was nearly 75 percent in central and eastern Europe.
The study cautioned that the "deaths that we estimated could not be prevented could be due to other risk factors associated with lung cancer", such as air pollution or exposure to second-hand smoke.
Tobacco-free generation initiatives have already been implemented in some countries, such as New Zealand and parts of Australia and the United States.
In 2022, New Zealand became the first country to ban cigarette sales to people born after 2008. But late last year, the country's new conservative government announced it planned to scrap the measure.
In contrast, the UK's new Labour government has been supportive of former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak's plan to ban cigarette sales to anyone born after January 2009.
The authors of the IARC study nevertheless stressed that tobacco-free generation policies were not enough to tackle the health scourge of tobacco, particularly for current smokers.
They also called for proven measures such as increasing taxes on cigarettes, and more smoke-free environments as well as support for efforts to quit.
D.Philippon--CPN