Cancer Research UK invests £5 million to fight tobacco

Cancer Research UK today (Monday) is investing £5 million in a new international research partnership to fight the spread of tobacco in countries where tobacco-related cancer has the greatest impact.

“Tobacco consumption is a burning platform that requires an urgent global solution. Governments around the world have committed to reduce tobacco use by 30 per cent by 2025. This won’t be achieved by words alone.” – Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK along with its cancer fighting partners – the Union for International Cancer Control, the US National Cancer Institute and Cancer Council Australia – are formally uniting to further the research into evidence-based tobacco control, to reduce the millions of tobacco-related deaths that occur across the world each year.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Tobacco consumption is a burning platform that requires an urgent global solution. Governments around the world have committed to reduce tobacco use by 30 per cent by 2025. This won’t be achieved by words alone.

“We have to reduce the huge number of lives affected by tobacco and we hope that the announcement of this global consortium, backed up by this initial investment pledge, will help expand tobacco control research in the countries which need it most. We will generate locally relevant evidence that will be capable of being implemented rapidly. If we act together, we could save 200 million of the one billion tobacco deaths that we will otherwise see this century.”

Tobacco remains the world’s single most preventable cause of death and disease. Tobacco kills six million people each year worldwide and is responsible for one in three cancer deaths.

By 2030 more than 80 per cent of tobacco-related mortality will be in low and middle income countries (LMICs). And tobacco will kill about one billion people in the 21st century if trends continue.

Cary Adams, UICC chief executive, said: “Millions of people are dying throughout the world each year due to something that is entirely preventable. The global cancer community must unite to reduce tobacco use. By joining forces we will accelerate progress in tobacco control and ultimately save lives that would otherwise be needlessly lost. Through the International Consortium for Action and Research on Tobacco we commit to mobilise our combined knowledge and resources in this fight.”

A large body of tobacco control research has been generated in high-income countries. But the key priority of the International Consortium for Action and Research on Tobacco is to help address the desperate need in LMICs for high-quality, locally-relevant research that informs policy and addresses the varying social, economic, cultural and political situations.

Professor Ian Olver, Cancer Council Australia chief executive, said: “Australia has led the way in innovative tobacco control policies. We are proud to be helping found the International Consortium for Action and Research on Tobacco, and to share our knowledge and experiences to further advance tobacco control worldwide.”

ENDS

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