One in three....

If you're a smoker, you stand a 50 percent chance of dying a tobacco-related death.

Public health officials report that tobacco use was responsible for 100 million deaths worldwide during the 20th century and that if current trends continue, the death toll could easily reach 1 billion this century.

According to the second edition of the Tobacco Atlas, released Monday at the International Union Against Cancer conference, 1.25 billion people currently smoke worldwide, and approximately half of them will die because of it.

"In all of world history, this is the largest train wreck not waiting to happen," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

Key global statistics within the report reveal:

• Close to 1 billion men and 250 million women currently smoke, worldwide.
• Approximately 650 million people who are alive today will eventually die because of tobacco use.
• Tobacco kills 5 million people every year, which amounts to nearly 14,000 tobacco-related deaths per day.

The Tobacco Atlas states that approximately 300 million lives could be saved over the next 50 years if global smoking rates could be cut in half.

The first edition of the Cancer Atlas, also released during Monday's conference, reveals global cancer deaths are increasing and shifting from developed to developing nations. While the risk of contracting cancer is higher among developed countries, more of the cancers in developing nations are fatal.

The Tobacco Atlas and the Cancer Atlas were produced by the American Cancer Society (ACS) in cooperation with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC).

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One in three your men in China die from smoking-related diseases.

ONE IN THREE - who do you know that will DIE from smoking?

Help a friend stop smoking...

If you are supporting someone who is giving up smoking, try the following:

• Kick a habit of your own – it's not the same as quitting smoking, but will help you understand what they're going through.
• Keep up their morale with little 'well done' messages or cards.
• Arrange your social activities in places where they can't smoke, like a cinema or sports centre.
• Indulge the occasional bad mood.
• Celebrate some firsts, like their first smoke-free week or month, the first time they manage a party without smoking.
• Don't make negative comments if they lapse.

Send the person you are trying to help, an email....

“Tobacco-related death rates in Russia range between 330,000 and 500,000 people annually, by various estimates. Tobacco smoking reduces the length of life by 10-15%,”

Tobacco smoking and tobacco-related diseases in Russia are tending to grow. For one, annual cigarette consumption increased by 30% from 287 billion to 375 billion cigarettes, placing Russia among countries with a higher-than-50% of tobacco users among the population, the ministry says.

Remember, one in three..................