The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Tobacco usage spread rapidly to every part of the globe following the European discovery of the Americas. Manufactured cigarettes were introduced in the 1880s. With the assistance of innovative advertising campaigns, these easier-to-use products quickly overtook other tobacco options in the United States and many countries. Population cigarette consumption rose quickly until the dissemination of the evidence of the health consequences of cigarette smoking in the 1950s. This addiction was adopted first by men who achieved prevalence rates as high as 80%. Religious and cultural proscriptions against female tobacco use kept female prevalence low in some countries and led to delayed adoption in others. In the year 2000, five times as many men smoked as women in 22 different countries, although gender differences were minimized in countries known for greater gender equality in their societies. This suggests that women may represent a major marketing opportunity for the tobacco industry in countries striving for greater gender equality. The United States was one of the first countries to peak in per capita consumption (1964) and public health action since then has reduced this per capita consumption by 70%. However, not all countries followed this pattern. In the decade of the 1990s, 45 countries experienced more than a 10% decline in per capita consumption. However, another 23 countries experienced considerable growth (increases > 10%). Countries with marked declines all have strong public health movements against tobacco. While worldwide per capita consumption decreased by 14%, population increases meant that total global sales remained constant.