The recent report released by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation revealed that six million people worldwide each year lose their life due to tobacco. Not only loss of human wealth, tobacco also leads to $500 billion loses annually to the global economy.

The Tobacco Atlas, Third Edition, complied by the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation shows that now tobacco industry is targeting countries where laws regarding tobacco consumption are not stringent.

The report showed that nearly 72 percent of people who will die from tobacco-related illnesses in 2010 will be from low- and middle-income countries. Tobacco products will be the reason behind 2.1 million cancer deaths annually by 2015. But 83 percent of these deaths by 2030 will occur in poor and middle-income countries.  

Report revealed that due to tobacco many people die prematurely in most productive years of their lives. The money spent on tobacco products by people can be spent on providing better healthcare and education to their children and families.

The report also said that tobacco replaces potential food production on almost 4 million hectares [a hectare is 2.47 acres] of the world's agricultural land -- the equivalent of all the planet's orange groves or banana plantations.