Tobacco Overview

Prevention is key to reducing tobacco-caused disease, death, and poverty.

Tobacco-caused diseases may be responsible for up to 10 million deaths every year by 2030—80 percent of them in developing countries. Tobacco use is also a risk factor for six of the world's eight leading causes of death. The good news is that momentum around tobacco control is building around the world. Effective prevention strategies can save lives.

People in many developing countries don't know about smoking's health risks.

Tobacco causes widespread illness and death, but its risks receive inadequate attention, and public-education campaigns lack funding. Education already has benefited consumers in some countries. In Thailand, for example, 36 percent of people said that health warnings had often stopped them from smoking a cigarette.

Smoking and poverty are linked in the developing world.

Tobacco's health risks for both smokers and those exposed to secondhand smoke raise the cost of health care. They also put families at risk of sliding into poverty due to poor health and premature death. Tobacco spending uses a significant part of a family's budget. Money spent on tobacco products cannot be spent on essentials, such as food.

Fortunately, progress is being made around the world.

Solutions to averting the tobacco epidemic in Africa and stemming it in places such as India and China are within reach. Successful and cost-effective efforts to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke are increasing at an impressive pace around the world. With more support, these efforts will be sustained.

Working with partners such as the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, our goal is to significantly reduce tobacco-caused disease, death, and poverty in the developing world.

Next: Our Approach

We’ve joined with Mayor Bloomberg and his Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use to combat the global tobacco epidemic. Our combined investment of $500 million will help governments in developing countries implement proven policies to reduce tobacco use and save lives.

We support MPOWER’s tobacco-control measures.

The foundation supports the World Health Organization’s MPOWER package that outlines cost-effective measures to stop tobacco use. Over the next two years, we will direct $24 million though the Bloomberg Initiative to speed adoption of this package of key tobacco-control interventions. Our funding to Bloomberg also will be used to build economic evidence to support tobacco control and to educate the public about the harmful effects of tobacco.

The six components of MPOWER are:

Monitor tobacco use and the policies to prevent it.
Protect people from tobacco smoke.
Offer people help to quit tobacco use.
Warn about the dangers of tobacco.
Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
Raise taxes on tobacco.

We’re also focusing on preventing the epidemic in Africa.

In addition to the grant to Bloomberg, our strategy will focus on efforts that can help prevent the onset of the tobacco epidemic in Africa. Our first grant supports research on tobacco use and control in Africa, which will be used to inform future activities.

We’re helping to build leadership and technical expertise in the developing world.

We plan to support countries’ efforts to accelerate the implementation of effective, evidence-based strategies in tobacco control.