ESTIMATING THE BURDEN OF DISEASE FROM PASSIVE SMOKING IN CHINA IN 2002 - PRELIMINARY RESULTS

摘要

In an attempt to address the hazards tobacco smoking imposes upon non-smokers in China, this paper estimated the burden of diseases from passive smoking in terms of both mortality and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) for two major diseases - lung cancer and ischemic heart disease (IHD). It was estimated that in 2002, around 137,000 adults died from lung cancer and around 191,000 adults died from IHD because of smoking; more than 11,000 adults died from lung cancer and more than 46,000 adults died from IHD because of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS). If measured in DALYs, the total healthy years of life lost from passive smoking for the two diseases combined were close to half a million, which was over 15% of the burden caused by active smoking. In addition, studies in other parts of the world show serious risks of SHS for children. We conclude that tobacco smoking not only poses serious health hazards for smokers in China but also for non-smokers adding more urgency to the need for measures to be taken immediately to curb the nation's tobacco epidemic.