A Cross-Country Comparison of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices about Tobacco Use: Global Adult Tobacco Survey

Tobacco use remains responsible for being one of the largest contributors to premature death, causing millions of deaths worldwide every year (World Health Organization, 2002; Thun et al., 2010). Both smoked and smokeless, forms of tobacco are associated with increased risk of chronic and terminal diseases (Critchley et al., 2003; Gupta et al., 2003; Nair et al., 2004; Krishna et al., 2013). These diseases include destructive periodontitis (Cutress, 2003; Gupta et al., 2003; Gupta et al., 2013); oral and oropharyngeal cancers (Johnson et al., 2011; Radoi et al.; 2013); oral potentially malignant disorders, notably leukoplakia, erythroplakia, and oral submucous fibrosis (Warnakulasuriya et al., 2007) and cardiovascular disorders including stroke (Gupta et al., 2013). Other significant health disorders associated with tobacco consumption include erectile dysfunction (Wang et al., 2013) and problems in pregnancy, including stillbirth and low birth weight babies (Wisborg et al., 2001; England et al., 2010).