6L die of 2nd-hand smoke annually…….Kounteya Sinha
New Delhi: Second-hand smoke (SHS) is killing six lakh annually,including 1.65 lakh children before they reach their fifth birthday.
A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 192 countriesthe first of its kind to assess all deaths caused by SHShas found that tobacco kills nearly 5.7 million globally every year,including 5.1 million,who die from their own smoking.The rest perish due to passive smoking.
Only 7.4% of the global population live in countries that boast of laws to prevent smoking in public places.Though India has banned smoking in public places,its stringent implementation has left a lot to be desired.India has recently released its global adult tobacco survey (GATS),which found that despite a ban on public smokingabout five in 10 adults (52.3%) were exposed to SHS at home and 29% at public placesmainly in public transport and restaurants.The WHO study,published in British medical journal The Lanceton Friday,said passive smoking is estimated to have caused 3.79 lakh deaths from ischemic heart condition,1.65 lakh deaths from lower respiratory infections,36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung canceraround 1% of global deaths.Around 47% women,who actually smoke much less than men,perish by inhaling
SHS.The corresponding figures for children and men are 28% and 26%.
The combination of infectious diseases and tobacco could be lethal for children, said Dr Annette Pruss-Ustun of WHOs Tobacco-Free Initiative in Geneva.She and her colleagues concluded that 40% children,33% male non-smokers and 35% female non-smokers are regularly exposed to SHS.The biggest impact on children is in the developing world.Two-thirds of these deaths occur in Africa and South Asia,the authors claim,adding that childrens exposure to SHS most likely happens at home.According to the study,the highest numbers of people exposed to SHS are in Europe and Asia,the lowest rates are in the Americas,eastern Mediterranean and Africa.As per GATS,in India,34.6% adults use tobacco in some form of which men and women account for 47.9% and 20.3%,respectively.Among daily tobacco users,60.2% consume it within half an hour of waking up.