Tobacco control—political will needed

Abstract

Today's Lancet and Lancet Respiratory Medicine feature a Series on tobacco control ahead of the 2013 American Thoracic Society conference in Philadelphia, PA, USA, on May 17–22. Worldwide, tobacco use kills about 6 million people per year, and most of the deaths are in Asia. In WHO's South East Asian region, an estimated 1·3 million people die every year from tobacco-related disease, whereas in the Western Pacific region, two people die every minute. All these premature deaths are preventable.