The World Health Organization (WHO) declared May 31 the World No Tobacco Day in 1988.
In 2005, this day is marked under the slogan "Medical Workers and the Combat Against Tobacco."
According to the WHO, about five million people die annually all over the world from tobacco-related illnesses. A third of cancer cases are caused by smoking. Total economic losses linked to tobacco are at least $200 billion a year.
"The number of Russian smokers is among the highest in the world. Forty-two percent of early death cases among men aged 35-69 are caused by smoking," the press release of Rospotrebnadzor reads.
Every year over 260,000 deaths have smoking-related reasons in Russia.
Recently, the number of smokers has been growing among Russian young people, and regular smokers are becoming younger. For example, 50% of boys and 40% of girls in high school smoke.
According to the WHO, people are giving up smoking in some countries. For example, the number of British smokers reduced by about 10 million in the past 10-15 years. It means that nearly 2,000 people become reformed smokers in the UK every day.
