• Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand, accounting for around 4300 to 4600 deaths per year.
• Half of the people who smoke today and continue smoking will eventually be killed by tobacco. Half of them will die in middle age.
• Globally, 1.3 billion people smoke. Each year tobacco causes five million premature deaths.
• Tobacco use is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide. If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020.
• Smoking increases the risk of developing diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems. These include cancers of the lung, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus and pancreas. Smoking also increases the risk of developing diseases of the urinary tract, pelvis, bladder and digestive tract.
• Smoking causes one in four of all cancer deaths in New Zealand.
• Tobacco is the only consumer product that kills half its users when used as the manufacturer intends.
• When you smoke you inhale more than 4000 chemicals including acetone (paint stripper), ammonia (toilet cleaner), cyanide (rat killer), DDT (insecticide) and carbon monoxide (car exhaust fumes).
• Smoking is a major cause of blindness, with about 1300 people in New Zealand having untreatable blindness due to current and past smoking.
• Tobacco plays a significant role in health inequalities within New Zealand. Higher smoking prevalence seen among low-income groups, M?ori and Pacific peoples.