MONTREAL -- According to the World Health Organization, the number of smokers has officially decreased on the planet for the first time, an encouraging sign to start la Semaine pour un Quebec sans tabac.

Sunday, the Conseil quebecois sur le tabac et la sante will unveil new data on the health impacts of this bad habit, specifically focused on cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases caused by smoking.

The organization also stresses in its new advertising campaign that smoking a single cigarette per day is enough to increase the risk of heart disease.

According to the information available on Quebec sans tabac's website, smoking is a major contributing factor to risk of contracting a thoracic aortic aneurysm. Smokers are also said to be two to three times more at risk of developing heart disease than non-smokers.

Smoking also increases the risk of having an artery blockage in addition to accelerating the progression of the disease. Since tobacco thickens the blood, in addition to accelerating the heart rate and increasing blood pressure, this has the effect of prematurely wearing down the veins and arteries.

With the slogan "de tout coeur, arretez" (with all your heart, stop) the campaign is encouraging smokers to 'quit' once and for all.

According to Quebec sans tabac, an ex-smoker who manages to stop smoking for 15 years would statistically regain the same status as a person who has never smoked with regard to the risk of developing tobacco-related heart or coronary heart disease.