Reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, lead researcher Prabhat Jha, of the Center for Global Health at the University of Toronto and colleagues warned that 1 million Indians would succumb to the ravages of smoking by 2010.

The most common cause of death from smoking is tuberculosis, the researchers said, adding that Smoking was linked to an eight-year reduction in life expectancy for women and a six-year decrease in life expectancy for men. The study was conducted among a sample representative of 1.1 million households in India.

Figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveal that most smokers in India are illiterates and hence there is a need to use audio-visual aids in spreading anti-smoking messages. While the present study did not look at the literacy levels of smokers, it found that the level of quitting smoking was very low in the country at two per cent.

The prevalence of smoking was compared among 33,000 deceased females and 41,000 deceased males with 35,000 living women and 43,000 living men.

The authors acknowledged that there were many variable factors in the study most notably the co-relation of tobacco use and alcohol. This was a confounding factor because "the use of alcohol could explain some of the excess mortality among smokers."

However the text of the report is crystal clear. Smoking is one of the main causes for increased mortality among women in India although most women shun smoke due to cultural factors involved. Furthermore unless urgent steps are taken to solve the problem, India could be facing a crisis within no time.

 

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