China catching up: Too bad it's smoking-related deaths

William Atkins
Thursday, 08 January 2009 21:29

Science - Health

The researchers estimated that 673,000 deaths, with a possible range between 564,700 and 781,400 deaths, occurred in China in 2005 due to smoking.

They concluded that 538,200 men (with a range of 455,800 to 620,600) died in 2005 because of smoking.

In addition, the researchers found that 134,800 Chinese women (with a range of 108,900 to 160,800) died from smoking in 2005.

Specifically, the three leading causes of these tobacco-smoking-related deaths were from:

1.    cancer, 268,200 (214,500 to 321,900)
2.    cardiovascular disease, 146,200 (79,200 to 213,100)
3.    respiratory disease, 66,800 (95% CI, 20,300 to 113,300)

They concluded, “Our study documents that smoking is a major risk factor for mortality in China. Continued strengthening of national programs and initiatives for smoking prevention and cessation is needed to reduce smoking-related deaths in China.”

The full text of the researchers paper is found at: Mortality Attributable to Smoking in China.

Within the paper, the researchers stated, “Cigarette smoking has been identified as the second leading risk factor for death from any cause worldwide. In 2000, an estimated 4.83 million deaths were attributed to cigarette smoking globally, with nearly half occurring in the developing world.”

“Because many low- and middle-income countries are still in early stages of the tobacco epidemic, the number of smoking-related deaths in these nations will probably increase during the next decades.”

Specifically, in China, the researchers stated, “With a population of 1.3 billion, China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco and bears a large proportion of deaths attributable to smoking worldwide.”