Tobacco and Cardiovascular Disease: A Summary of Evidence

Authors: Ambuj Roy, Ishita Rawal, Samer Jabbour, Dorairaj Prabhakaran

Citation:

Abstract:

Reports that tobacco use remains a leading global cause of death, accounting for more than 6 million deaths annually or at least 12 percent of deaths among people age 30 years and older (16 percent for men, 7 percent for women). Tobacco remains the leading cause of premature death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), accounting for an estimated 5.9 million premature deaths in 2013. It also represents the single most preventable cause of CVD. Although tobacco use affects all countries regardless of their level of economic or health system development, the impact remains most profound in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which shoulder the largest share of total and premature deaths from CVD globally. Reducing tobacco use thus proves crucial to averting tobacco deaths, and implementation of the full provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides a clear path toward a world free of tobacco use and where tobacco-related CVD becomes a thing of the past.