Smoking gun: one in three young men in China will die from tobacco, study says
Mainland labour force and public health system will face severe strain in the future unless smokers get help now to kick the habit, studies warn
By 2030, two million Chinese smokers will be killed annually because of their deadly habit - unless programmes are implemented across the country to help them kick the vice, a top medical journal has warned.
Studies published in The Lancet by researchers from Oxford University, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control showed that two-thirds of China's young men smoke, and unless they quit, half of them would die from it.
"About two-thirds of young Chinese men become cigarette smokers, and most start before they are 20. Unless they stop, about half of them will eventually be killed by their habit," said Oxford University's Zhengming Chen, co-author of the article.
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China has more than 350 million smokers, who consume over a third of the world's cigarettes and account for a sixth of the global smoking death toll. The country's population is 1.4 billion.
"The annual number of deaths in China that are caused by tobacco will rise from about one million in 2010 to two million in 2030 and three million in 2050, unless there is widespread cessation," the researchers wrote.
"Widespread smoking cessation offers China one of the most effective, and cost-effective, strategies to avoid disability and premature death over the next few decades."