NEW YORK, Oct 06 (Reuters Health) -- Despite antismoking efforts throughout China, the number of smokers is rising and the age at which they begin to smoke is falling.
"At current smoking rates, by the year 2025, 2 million smoking-related deaths are predicted to occur in China, and at least 50 million Chinese smokers alive today are expected to die prematurely," according to Dr. Gonghuan Yang from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in Beijing, and colleagues.
Their report is published in the October 6th issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The investigators surveyed more than 120,000 Chinese men and women during 1996. They report that 34.1% of those surveyed smoked at least one cigarette daily, a rise of 3.4 percentage points since the last survey in 1984.
The current smoking rates were far higher among men (63%) than among women (3.8%), the report indicates. And 7.5% of men and 0.2% of women were heavy smokers, defined as at least 20 cigarettes a day.
"From 1985 to 1996, the age of smoking initiation declined approximately 3 years for both men and women," the study authors note. Among men, "the average age declined from 22 to 19 years, and for women, the average declined from 28 to 25 years."
Passive smoke exposure was reported by more than half of nonsmokers, bringing the overall rate of tobacco smoke exposure above 72%, representing more than 600 million Chinese people, the results indicate.
Although only a minority of people surveyed recognized the association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer or heart disease, antismoking sentiment appears to be strong. According to the report, close to 80% of smokers and nonsmokers believe strongly that teachers and physicians should not smoke. Furthermore, 78% of nonsmokers and 68% of smokers agreed that parents should not smoke in front of their children.
Sizeable majorities support the entire spectrum of government-enforced tobacco control policies, the researchers indicate, the sole exception being increased cigarette costs. Already, the average smoker spends one-quarter of his or her income on cigarettes.
With 50 million people expressing a desire to quit smoking, the authors urge the development of effective smoking cessation programs in China. "Enhanced knowledge of the health risks of smoking might facilitate cessation," they write, "and trials of control measures designed to fit cultural and economic conditions are needed."
"China has unique opportunities to show the rest of the world that tobacco control is possible, and that it can be accomplished by the country with the world's largest problem," the investigators conclude.
