[Tuberculosis and Tobacco Smoking].

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Respiratory Medicine

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health challenge, with millions of new cases and deaths annually.
• Smoking is a significant, independent risk factor exacerbating TB disease, latent infection, and mortality.
• Current TB programs inadequately address smoking cessation, hindering progress towards global TB control goals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the substantial impact of smoking on tuberculosis incidence and mortality.
• To emphasize the urgent need for integrating smoking cessation interventions into tuberculosis treatment and prevention strategies.
• To underscore the threat posed by smoking to the World Health Organization's TB elimination targets.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of epidemiological data on tuberculosis and smoking.
• Analysis of mathematical modeling projections regarding the future burden of TB attributable to smoking.
• Assessment of current integration of smoking cessation within global TB control programs.

Main Results:

• Smoking is associated with a twofold increase in active TB, latent TB infection, and TB-related mortality.
• Mathematical models estimate that smoking could cause an additional 18 million TB cases by 2050.
• Smoking cessation interventions are currently underutilized in TB care and prevention efforts.

Conclusions:

• Smoking cessation is an essential, yet often overlooked, component of effective tuberculosis control.
• Failure to address smoking will significantly impede achieving global tuberculosis elimination goals.
• Urgent implementation of comprehensive smoking cessation strategies within TB programs is imperative.