From controlling market promotion and consumption of tobacco to eradicating the use of tobacco
It has been estimated that, during the 20th century, 100 million premature deaths were caused by tobacco use. If the consumption of cigarettes does not cease, a billion people will die prematurely over the present century. The objective of this article is to review the means adopted to wipe out the commercial promotion of tobacco products, and measures designed to reduce their consumption. Now that ways of containing the spread of nicotine addiction in the population have been developed, the time has come to consider eradicating this disease. The established elements of the natural history of nicotine addiction and knowledge acquired in countries where the epidemic first took place, allow us to conclude that we could now envisage a world free from all tobacco addiction. For public health and its promoters, the possibility of eradicating a disease naturally creates an obligation to do so.