Two out of three smokers will die
Smoking is more lethal than even health experts thought, with research showing two out of three people who smoke throughout their life will die as a result.
A landmark study from the Australian National University and Sax Institute - the first with direct evidence of the risks based on more than 200,000 people - shows even light smokers die prematurely.
It estimates up to 1.8 million of Australia's 2.7 million smokers will die from their habit if they continue to smoke.
Compared with non-smokers, smokers will die 10 years earlier, with 10 cigarettes a day doubling the risk of dying prematurely and smoking a pack a day increasing the risk up to five-fold.
Emily Banks, scientific director of the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study, said the findings were an important reminder that efforts in tobacco control needed to continue.
"These findings are a huge wake-up call for Australia," Professor Banks said. "We knew smoking was bad but we now have direct evidence from Australia that shows it is worse than previously thought - and even 10 cigarettes a day doubles your risk of dying prematurely."
The Australian Council on Smoking and Health and the Public Health Association of Australia said campaigns to reduce smoking needed to intensify.
ACOSH president Mike Daube said it was staggering that almost two million people who were alive now were likely to die because they smoked.
"If anything else caused that death toll it would be seen as a national catastrophe," he said.
"It is time to ban all tobacco industry promotion, including lobbying and PR, by this lethal industry."
PHAA chief executive Michael Moore said the findings confirmed smoking was still the single most preventable cause of death and disease, and killed more smokers than anyone would have thought.
It also emphasised the risks of even light smoking.
