Over 3 lakh deaths linked to passive smoking in India: Study

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Passive smoking or second-hand smoking has increasingly affected people in India and around the world in recent years, according to a new study.

Second-hand smoke is the inhaled and exhaled smoke by people around someone who is smoking.

About 444 million people in India were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2023, according to the study.

It estimated that 325,600 deaths occurred in India in 2023 due to second-hand smoke, up from 217,700 deaths in 1990, an increase of almost 50%.

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However, the proportion of the population exposed to second-hand smoking in India decreased between 1990 and 2023 from 43.2% to 30.6%, in spite of the increased numbers affected, due to population growth.

The research has associated second hand smoking to conditions such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and other respiratory infections.

Passive smoke affected 2.71 billion people and caused 1.66 million deaths around the world in 2023, the study said.

Also read: Think Just One Cigarette Won’t Hurt? Know The Risks

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