Asia's smoking related deaths likely to double by 2030

Last Updated: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:04:00 +1000

New Australian research has found the number of people dying from smoking related lung cancer will double in Asia over the next twenty years.

The study from the George Institute of Global Health found a third of the world's smokers live in the Asia-Pacific region, but many Asian countries have been slow to take up anti-smoking initiatives.

Senior research fellow Dr Alexandra Martiniuk told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program that smoking rates are particularly high among countries with large populations like China, India and Indonesia.

"Smoking rates are increasing and because of the time lag between smoking and deaths from things like lung cancer ... we actually will see at least a doubling of deaths in the years to come in this region," she said.

Dr Martiniuk says she was surprised to learn that 60 per cent of doctors in China are smokers.

"This is why groups like the World Bank and the World Health Organisation are saying more research is needed as to why this (anti-smoking) message is being slowed," she said.

She praises China for recently signing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which regulates tobacco advertising and smoking indoors.

"But even still, given the current rates of smoking, we're still going to see a doubling of death from things like lung cancer and other cancers and cardiovascular disease, just simply because of the lag time when somebody starts smoking today, they may get sick in 10 to 20 years down the line," she said.

Language News