Tobacco Control: How Are We Doing?

The tobacco epidemic still looms large as one of the greatest human-created threats of all time.1 In the last century alone, a staggering 100 million people lost their lives to it1, and in this century-unless something changes drastically-a billion people could die needlessly or be plagued by disability. To avoid this calamity, a broad range of policy, public health, and health service interventions must be employed in an orchestrated manner. In this journal, on the 50th anniversary of the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health, Warner et al. analyzed the impact of tobacco control efforts on US per capita cigarette consumption, concluding that these efforts represent a major public health victory. 2 Thewar on tobacco-related death and disease is of course a global one, and the success of high-income nations must be replicated.