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CSU 8/2008: CASE CONTROL STUDY OF SMOKING AND DEATH IN INDIA

Friday, 22nd of February 2008

CSU 8/2008: CASE CONTROL STUDY OF SMOKING AND DEATH IN INDIA
 
 This case/control study from India, just published in the New England
 Journal of Medicine, compares the prevalence of smoking in 74,000 deceased
 men and women with smoking prevalence in those living. The authors conclude
 that "in 2010, smoking will cause about 930,000 deaths in India." The
 deaths in men outnumber those in women, so that smoking will create large
 numbers of widows and half-orphans. Not even counting the cost of second
 hand smoke, not studied, this suggests a heavy impact of smoking on
 children.
 
 India may soon have the dubious distinction of overtaking China in tobacco
 associated mortality. (Liu BQ, Peto R, Chen ZM, et al. "Emerging tobacco
 hazards in China. 1. Retrospective proportional mortality study of one
 million deaths," BMJ 1998;317:1411-22), available at
 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7170/1411?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=chen%2C+zm&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
 
 What is the world's largest democracy doing to reduce the death toll from
 this preventable condition? Same question for the world's most populous
 country. Those who think the pandemic cannot be controlled should consult
 the homepage of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at
 http://tobaccofreekids.org/campaign/global/
 
 
 Good reading.
 
 Bob
 
 
 
 This article is also available at
 http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMsa0707719?query=TOC