Why tobacco and cancer?

Tobacco is a major cause of cancer. In 2000, 1.3 million people died from cancers caused by tobacco: 900,000 from lung cancer, and 400,000 from other cancers.

At least one in seven cancer deaths is caused by smoking.

Over the past 30 years, lung cancer rates have doubled.

Eight out of ten lung cancers are caused by smoking.

Every year, 1.2 million new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed - almost 1 million of these are caused by smoking.

Tobacco causes cancers of the lung, kidney, pancreas, bladder, cervix, and head and neck.

Smoking is responsible for one in eight deaths among adults worldwide.

What can be done?

Curbing tobacco use will cut cancer rates and save lives. Evidence and experience from around the globe show us what works in tackling tobacco.

How can UICC help?

UICC works through a variety of partnerships to develop resources for tobacco control and promote a tobacco-free future.

Action resources can help us to:

• understand the true scale of the tobacco epidemic
• communicate the health risks of smoking and the benefits of quitting
• help tobacco users to stop
• support effective policies, including smokefree policies
• educate students and professionals for tobacco control
• UICC campaign 'I love my smoke-free childhood'