Geneva (AFP)

This is a first, and a "turning point" in the fight against smoking: the number of men using tobacco worldwide is decreasing, a trend observed in women for several years already, welcomed the WHO in a report released Thursday.

This news is not without consequence because men represent the vast majority (82%) of the 1.337 billion global tobacco users, said the World Health Organization (WHO), which examines the behavior of smokers and other consumers. tobacco for almost twenty years.

So far, WHO has noted "a steady increase in the number of men using deadly tobacco products," said WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted in the statement.

"Now now, for the first time, we are seeing a decline, due to the firmer attitude of governments towards the tobacco industry," he added, welcoming this "turning point in the fight against smoking". which occurred in 2019 and is expected to confirm in the future.

In almost 20 years, the total number of tobacco users worldwide has decreased by around 60 million to 1.337 billion in 2018, according to the third edition of the WHO World Report on Smoking.

This decrease is explained by the reduction of approximately 100 million in the number of female users over this period, reduced to 244 million in 2018. During the same period, 40 million more men used tobacco products ( 1.093 billion in 2018).

The WHO report, which covers only products containing tobacco and therefore excludes electronic cigarettes, shows that the upward trend in male smoking has been stopped.

According to WHO projections, the number of male consumers will decrease by two million between 2018 and 2020 to reach 1.091 billion, and by 4 million between 2020 and 2025, to reach 1.087 billion.

Overall, WHO forecasts a decrease of 10 million in the total number for both sexes compared to 2018 and a further decrease of 27 million by 2025.

These figures show that the efforts made by countries to fight tobacco addiction are progressing, according to the WHO, for which progress remains insufficient despite the voluntary targets set by governments.

Report also shows highest smoking rates in Southeast Asia, but are expected to decline rapidly according to WHO to levels similar to those in the European and Pacific regions Western.

Smoking kills more than 8 million people every year, killing around one in two consumers. More than 7 million of these deaths are due to direct consumption of tobacco products, while about 1.2 million result from passive smoking, according to the WHO.

© 2019 AFP