According to a new study, one in every 10 deaths that occur at a worldwide level is caused by smoking. The same report also established that almost half of all such deaths take place in just 4 countries. These are the United States, Russia, India, and China.
This new report was published in The Lancet medical journal. Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou was its senior researchers. According to the study, in 2015, almost 1 billion people smoked on a daily basis. This translated into 1 in every 4 men and 1 in 20 women. The report is called the Global Burden of Diseases, and it includes 195 countries and territories. Their residents’ smoking habits were analyzed in between 1990 to 2015.
Smoking Is Still One Of The Largest Risk Factors
Dr. Gakidou stated that smoking is considered the second largest risk factor when it comes to disabilities and early death. It has maintained this position, although the number of smokers has reduced. The report found that, in 1990, almost 1 in 3 men and 1 in 12 women lit up a cigarette on a daily basis.
Nonetheless, the global number of smokers did increase throughout the 1990 to 2015 period. This is due to the population growth, which raised the number from 870 million back in the 90s to almost a billion nowadays.
The number of tobacco-related deaths has also increased. Over the aforementioned period, it rose by 4.7 percent to reach over 6.4 million in 2015.
The study found that some countries managed to curb the smoking habits of its population. At the same time, some countries saw an increase, while others reported no difference on the matter. Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Indonesia, for example, saw no change.
On the opposite end, Russia reported a 4 percent increase in the number of daily smokers, as did some African countries. Brazil, for its part, saw quite a significant percentage drop, by half or more in both men and women.
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