Second-hand smoke is responsible for an estimated 603,000 deaths each year, or about one of every 100 deaths worldwide, according to researchers for the World Health Organization.
In the first study to gauge the effect of second-hand smoke globally, the researchers concluded that children are more heavily exposed to second-hand smoke than other age grups, and account for 166,000 deaths each year because of it, mostly in Africa and south Asia, Reuters reports.
Globally, 40 percent of children, 33 percent of non-smoking men and 35 percent of non-smoking women were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, according to the study. Deaths of children due to second-hand smoking were skewed toward poor and middle-income countries, while deaths of adults were spread across all income levels. Most of childrens’ exposure to second-hand smoke happens at home.
The WHO researchers analyzed data from 192 countries in 2004—the most recent year for which comprehensive data from all 192 countries was available. Using mathematical models, they estimated deaths and the number of years of good health lost.
They estimated exposure to second-hand smoke caused 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 from lower respiratory infections, 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer. This is in addition to the 5.1 million deaths each year from active tobacco use.
