A single cigarette sold on a street corner may not costa lot; however,

the overall costs of smoking are huge.

First, consider the cost of human life.

The World HealthOrganization says about 10 people die of a tobacco-
linked disease every minute.
That rate adds up toalmost six million people dying from such diseasesevery year.

The majority of these preventable deaths happen inlow-income and middle-

income countries. The WorldBank says each of these countries has
a grossnational income of less than $12,746.

Stopping smoking

For most people, stopping smoking is hard. Manybegan smoking as teenagers. They are us
ed to it. Also,tobacco contains the powerful drug nicotine.

Studies show people who want to stop smoking can doso with different treatments. Some ge
t help from electronic cigarettes,medicine or nicotine patches that reduce one’s desire for
the drug.

Dr. Nancy Rigotti works at Massachusetts General Hospital in the UnitedStates.

She says she finds that medicine and counseling services togetherwork best of all.

Other experts and former smokers offer even more effective advice: if you areconsidering st
arting smoking, don’t.

Illegal tobacco trade

But smoking costs more than the life of an individual. It can affect the health of
an entire country.

The World Health Organization says low-

income countries depend heavily ontaxes from cigarettes. They use the money, in part,
to pay the costs of healthcare for tobacco-related diseases.

But the illegal trade in tobacco products is further testing the economies oflow-
income countries. WHO officials say the illegal trade earns about $31billion every year.
Douglas Bettcher is the director of the WHO’s Department for the Preventionof Non-
Communicable Diseases. He calls the illegal trade a monster withmany heads.

He says the trade enables young people to buy cigarettes at low prices,become addicted to
tobacco and suffer serious health problems.
It alsoincreases crime and reduces tax revenue.

“It feeds the proliferation of transnational organized crime, another head of this multi-
headed monster, and it drains resources, taxes, revenue from
thepurses of ministries of finance, governmental coffers.”

The World Health Organization is urging United Nations member states tosign a treaty to en
d the illegal trade in tobacco products. Eight countries haveapproved the treaty. But
the approval of 32 other countries is needed for it tobecome international law.

If the treaty succeeds, governments could put people who trade illegaltobacco products in ja
il – another cost to countries’ budgets.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

VOA’s Carol Pearson and reporter Lisa Schlein wrote parts of this story. Kelly Jean Kelly
adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.