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Smoking Deaths Rocket in India

Study predicts 1 million will die annually from tobacco-related illnesses

By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 14, 2008 11:05 AM CST
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(Newser) – Tobacco use is the smoking gun in 900,000 deaths annually in India, and the numbers are on the rise as the nation grapples with its epidemic-scale cigarette addiction, reports the BBC. At least 1 million Indians will die annually from smoking-related illnesses in the next decade unless the nation takes action soon, warns a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

With roughly 120 million Indian smokers, cigarettes and hand-rolled bidi will soon account  for 20% of all male deaths and 5% of all female deaths between the ages of 30 and 69. "I am alarmed by the results of this study," said India's health minister. He announced an effort to control the problem, "in particular by informing the many poor and illiterate of smoke risks."

A laborer smokes in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half of them among poor and illiterate people, according to a medical study released Thursday....
A laborer smokes in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half of them among...   (Associated Press)
A Hubble bubble or Hukka made out of thermo flask is seen outside a local hospital in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half among the...
A Hubble bubble or Hukka made out of thermo flask is seen outside a local hospital in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly...   (Associated Press)
A man smokes a cigarette at a cafeteria in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half of them among poor and illiterate people, according to a...
A man smokes a cigarette at a cafeteria in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more...   (Associated Press)
Pavement dwellers smoke bidis, small, cheaply made cigarettes in Vadodara, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half of them among poor and illiterate people, according to a...
Pavement dwellers smoke bidis, small, cheaply made cigarettes in Vadodara, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths...   (Associated Press)
An Indian worker lights a bidi, a small, cheaply made cigarette in Vadodara, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half of them among poor and illiterate people,...
An Indian worker lights a bidi, a small, cheaply made cigarette in Vadodara, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths...   (Associated Press)
An Indian worker smokes a bidi, a small, cheaply made cigarette in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, more than half of them among poor and illiterate people,...
An Indian worker smokes a bidi, a small, cheaply made cigarette in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. India is in the grips of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths...   (Associated Press)
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India responds to smoking crisis
Associated Press

WHO urges greater global anti-smoking action
Reuters

India faces high smoking-related death toll
Economic Times (India)

Read the original study here
New England Journal of Medicine

 
India • smoking • cigarettes • tobacco • public health • smoking cessation

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