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PAHO: World No Tobacco Day: Tobacco and

Heart Disease

11 HORA PASA , 31 DI MEI 2018 11:36
SECCION: SALUD

New report shows tobacco use is falling, but more needed to protect people from heart diseases
and other noncommunicable diseases

Geneva/Washington D.C., 31 May, 2018 (PAHO / WHO) - Tobacco use has declined markedly
since 2000, both globally and in the Region of the Americas, but the reduction is insufficient to
meet global targets aimed at protecting people from death and suffering from cardiovascular
and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Currently, over a third of countries in the
Americas are not implementing a single tobacco control measure.

For today’s World No Tobacco Day 2018, WHO has joined with the World Heart Federation and
many other allies to raise awareness on the link between tobacco and cardiovascular diseases
(CVD), which are the world’s leading causes of death. CVD are responsible for 44% of all NCD

deaths, or 17.9 million deaths annually in the world, including 2 million deaths in the Americas.

Tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure are the major causes of CVD, including heart
attacks and stroke, contributing to approximately 3 million deaths per year globally. But
evidence shows there is an alarming lack of knowledge and awareness that tobacco is a major
risk for conditions like stroke and heart attack.