Passive Smoking: 0.6m people affected annually, WHO

One-third of those killed are children, often exposed to smoke at home, according to the WHO.

ISLAMABAD: The first global study into the effects of passive smoking has found it causes 600,000 deaths every year. One-third of those killed are children, often exposed to smoke at home, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). A study, carried out in 192 countries, found that passive smoking is particularly dangerous for children, said to be at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome, pneumonia and asthma. Passive smoking causes heart disease, respiratory illness and lung cancer. According to the study, the highest number of people exposed to second-hand smoke is in Europe and Asia and the lowest rate of exposure was in the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa. The research also revealed that passive smoking had a large impact on women, killing about 281,000 worldwide. APP



Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2011.