"Between 2000 and 2020, smoking prevalence in the region fell from 54% to 23%, an achievement that demonstrates "strong political commitment, comprehensive policies and community engagement," said Catharina Boehme, officer-in-charge of WHO South-East Asia, in a statement earlier this month. Experts say the decline shows the success of long-term public health initiatives. Most Southeast Asian countries have strengthened their policies on taxation, packaging, advertising bans, and public smoking restrictions,"
"However, while the WHO hailed the region's progress as a major public health success, some researchers have questioned the logic behind its definition of the Southeast Asian region. The organization includes India within its "South-East Asia" category, while placing Indonesia, the region's largest country, in the Western Pacific region. Most other international bodies classify India as South Asia and Indonesia as part of Southeast Asia. This inconsistency makes it difficult to compare the WHO's figures with other datasets."
Between 2000 and 2020 smoking prevalence in Southeast Asia fell from 54% to 23% in per capita terms. The decline followed stronger taxation, packaging regulations, advertising bans, and public smoking restrictions that reduced accessibility and social acceptability of tobacco. Regional classification by WHO places India in South-East Asia and Indonesia in the Western Pacific, creating inconsistencies with other international bodies and complicating dataset comparisons. A Lancet analysis found smoking rates declined in most countries between 1990 and 2021, but the absolute number of smokers rose by about 63% as population increased from roughly 440 million to over 700 million. Statistical caveats accompany the public health gains.
Read at www.dw.com
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