The sale of tobacco should be phased out within the next 25 years.

A world virtually free of tobacco and its devastating health consequences could be a reality within 30 years if governments showed political will and took stronger action against cigarette companies, health experts said.

The international group of public health and policy specialists, writing in The Lancet medical journal, said sale of tobacco should be phased out worldwide by 2040 and called for a “turbo-charged” international effort against its use.

A series of articles will also be launched at the World Conference on Tobacco and Health being held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates between tomorrow and Saturday.

The experts warn that despite the decline of smoking in the developed world, tobacco use is expected to increase in some countries over the next decade, notably in Africa and the Middle East.

With global population rising, there could still be more than a billion people smoking in 2025 unless urgent action is taken, it is claimed.

A billion people are forecast to die this century from smoking and other forms of tobacco use if control efforts are not stepped up. More than 80 per cent of those deaths will be in poor and middle-income countries.

“A world where tobacco is out of sight, out of mind and out of fashion – yet not prohibited – is achievable in less than three decades... but only with full commitment from governments, international agencies, such as UN and World Health Organisation, and civil society,” said Robert Beaglehole of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, one of the experts.

Describing a ‘tobacco-free’ world as one where less than five per cent of adults use it, he added: “The time has come for the world to acknowledge the unacceptability of the damage being done by the tobacco industry and work towards a world essentially free from the... sale of tobacco products.”

Tobacco kills some six million people a year worldwide, according to WHO. And besides lung cancer, which is caused by smoking and is often fatal, smoking is also a major risk factor for a range of other illnesses. It is the world’s leading preventable cause of premature death from chronic conditions such as heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure.

The experts pointed out that falling demand for tobacco in rich parts of the world had caused the ‘big four’ tobacco companies to turn their attention to low- and middle-income countries.

Their alleged tactics included industrial litigation, lobbying through third-party groups, and covert maintenance of political pressure disguised as “corporate social responsibility”.

The experts said that even a decade after the introduction of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), only 15 per cent of people globally have adequate access to programmes to help them stop smoking and fewer than one in 10 people are covered by tobacco taxes at FCTC recommended levels.

In the same period, 50 million people have died due to smoking and tobacco-related diseases, they said.