Smoking ‘to cause 40 million TB deaths by 2050’

Smoking could cause an additional 40 million deaths from tuberculosis (TB) over the next four decades, according to a new study.

The University of California-led research, which appeared in the British Medical Journal, utilised a mathematical model to determine the impact smoking will have on future TB rates between 2010 and 2050.

It was calculated that the habit, which increases the risk of contracting TB, could lead to a rise in fatalities from 61 million to 101 million, while the number of diagnosed cases could rise from 256 million to 274 million.

According to scientists, this will undermine the Millennium Development Goal to reduce TB mortality unless action is taken.

The authors of the report argued that "aggressively lowering the prevalence of tobacco smoking could reduce smoking attributable deaths from tuberculosis by 27 million by 2050".

This comes after a study from Canada earlier this month showed that smoking is also associated with an elevated risk of stroke.