******* kills 7 million a year, wreaks environmental havoc: WHO
 

Smoking and other ******* use kills more than seven million people each year, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday, also warning of the dire environmental impact of ******* production, distribution and waste.

The UN agency said tougher measures were needed to rein in ******* use, urging countries to ban smoking in the workplace and indoor public spaces, outlaw marketing of ******* products and hike cigarette prices.

"******* threatens us all," WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement.

"******* exacerbates poverty, reduces eco**mic productivity, contributes to poor household food choices, and pollutes indoor air," she said.

In a report released ahead of World ** ******* Day on Wednesday, WHO warned that the annual death toll of seven million people had jumped from four million at the turn of the century, making ******* the world’s single biggest cause of preventable death.

And the death toll is expected to keep rising, with WHO bracing for more than one billion deaths this century.

"By 2030, more than 80 percent of the deaths will occur in developing countries, which have been increasingly targeted by ******* companies seeking new markets to circumvent tightening regulation in developed nations."

******* use also brings an eco**mic cost: WHO estimates that it drains more than $1.4 trillion from households and governments each year in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity, or nearly two percent of the global gross domestic product.

In addition to the health and eco**mic costs linked to smoking, the WHO report for the first time delved into the environmental impact of everything from ******* production to the cigarette butts and other waste produced by *****rs.

"From start to finish, the ******* life cycle is an overwhelmingly polluting and damaging process," WHO Assistant Director-General Oleg Chest**v said in the report.

The report detailed how growing ******* often requires large quantities of fertilisers and pesticides, and it warned that ******* farming had become the main cause of deforestation in several countries.

This is largely due to the amount of wood needed for curing *******, with WHO estimating that one tree is needed for every 300 cigarettes produced.

WHO also highlighted the pollution generated during the production, transport and distribution of ******* products.

The report estimates that the industry emits nearly four million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually -- the same as around three million transatlantic flights.

And waste from the process contains over 7,000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment, including human carci**gens, WHO said.

Once in the hands of the consumer, ******* ***** emissions spewed thousands of tonnes of human carci**gens, toxic substances and greenhouse gases into the environment.

Cigarette butts and other ******* waste make up the largest number of individual pieces of litter in the world, the agency said.

Two thirds of the 15 billion cigarettes sold each day are thrown on to the street or elsewhere in the environment, it said, adding that butts account for up to 40 percent of all items collected in coastal and urban clean-ups.

WHO urged governments to take strong measures to rein in ******* use. "One of the least used, but most effective ******* control measures... is through increasing ******* tax and prices," Chest**v said.

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