New Delhi: As per a recent survey, India has been found to be among top four nations for highest number of deaths by smoking.
According to a recent study, over 50 percent deaths caused due to smoking in 2015 took place majorly in four countries and India is one of them.
According to Global Burden of Disease's (GBD) recent publication in a medical journal named 'The Lancet', over 11 percent of 6.4 million deaths worldwide was caused due to smoke in a extreme level. China, India, USA and Russia are the most affected countries, the study says further.
China, India, and Indonesia, the three leading countrieswith male smokers, accounted for 51.4 per cent of the world'smale smokers in 2015.
India has 11.2 per cent of the world's total smokers. Deaths attributable to smoking increased by 4.7 per centin 2015 compared with 2005 and smoking was rated as a biggerburden on health ?
Moving from third to second highest cause of disability, the study said, "In 2015, 11.5 percent of global deaths (6.4 million)were attributable to smoking worldwide, of which 52.2 per centtook place in four countries - China, India, the USA, andRussia)," the study said.
The estimates are based on smoking habits in 195 countriesand territories between 1990 and 2015, and illustrate thatsmoking remains a leading risk factor for death anddisability.
The study said that with growing and ageing populationsalready heightening the burden of tobacco, it will be crucialto support more smokers in quitting and stopping people fromstarting to smoke.
"The USA, China and India, which were the leading threecountries in total number of female smokers, accounted foronly 27.3 per cent of the world's female smokers," it said.
While Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines did nothave significant reductions in male prevalence of dailysmoking since 1990, the Philippines, Germany, and India had nosignificant decreases in smoking among women.
(With PTI inputs)
