by Marie Kauna – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
Growing awareness globally on the effects of smoking and its death rates has made many thinking twice about the nasty habit.
While some countries have seen a slow drop in their smoking rates, China however has seen an increase in its smoking rate.
Believed to be the world’s biggest consumer of cigarettes and tobacco products, the country’s smoking rate has raised posing health threats that could result in deaths.
According to a study conducted by scientists from Oxford University, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control have identified that a third of all men in China under the age 20, will eventually die if they continue to smoke.
For tobacco users, researchers say if the trend continues the rate will double to two million people dying every year by 2030.
While there is hope this rate could be reduced, these factors have hampered the efforts diverted into helping to reduce these alarming rates.
Co-author Richard Peto said the key to avoiding this huge wave of deaths is to persuade people to quit smoking.
