Alcohol, tobacco, fossil fuels and ultra-processed foods account for 24.5% of all deaths. Every year, 2.7 million people die from these causes.
This is stated in the document presented on June 12 World Health Organization report. Almost 2/3 of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases can be attributed to risk factors, so they can and should be prevented by minimizing the impact.
Europe is behind on the global target of reducing the risk of premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases by a third by 2025, compared with a 2010 baseline. Countries are not implementing even half of the best WHO policies that consistently demonstrate their benefits, the report's authors noted.
The organization's report notes that European countries have lax enforcement of smoking bans in public places, and efforts to reduce the appeal of harmful products (use plain packaging, introduce an excise tax on alcohol, label ultra-processed foods) have not been successful.
The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco is the leading cause of death (10.37%). Its use causes more than 1.15 million deaths in Europe per year. This is followed by fossil fuels (5.21% or 578.9 thousand deaths) and alcohol (3.84% or 426.9 thousand deaths). As a result of excessive consumption of meat, sugary drinks, fatty and salty foods, 391.1 thousand people (3.52%) die on the continent.
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