By 2015, 6.4 million people per year will die from tobacco-related illnesses, claiming twice as many victims as AIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Reuters reported Nov. 29 that the WHO estimated that smoking would cause 10 percent of all deaths worldwide by the middle of the next decade. Experts say that by 2030, tobacco will kill 8.3 million people annually; more people will survive childhood and infectious diseases and live longer, the WHO said, but chronic diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease will account for 70 percent of all deaths.

AIDS deaths are also expected to rise and will have the greatest impact on low- and moderate-income nations, the WHO predicted.

The report appears in the Public Library of Science Medicine.