A new study, conducted by scientists
from Oxford University, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese
Center for Disease Control, has warned that a third of all men currently under
the age of 20 in China will eventually die prematurely if they do not give up
smoking. The research, published in The Lancet
medical journal, says two-thirds of men in China now start to smoke before
20.Around half of those men will die from the habit, it concludes. In 2010, around one million people in
China died from tobacco usage. But researchers say that if current trends
continue, that will double to two million people - mostly men - dying every
year by 2030, making it a "growing epidemic of premature death". But co-author Richard Peto said there
was hope - if people can be persuaded to quit. "The key to avoid this huge
wave of deaths is cessation, and if you are a young man, don’t start," he
said. In many parts of China, meals often
fit a comfortable pattern. After putting down their chopsticks, men commonly
push their chairs back from the table and light cigarettes. No wonder SSChina
has struggled to impose a smoking ban in public places. Here, relationships are
often built amid clouds of smoke. Expensive brands of cigarettes, often
decorated with gold detailing on the cartons, are given as gifts. And ordinary
brands are affordable to all but the very poor, costing just 2.5 yuan ($0.4;
£0.25) a pack. In a country where smoking is so
ingrained in daily life, few understand the harmful effects of tobacco use.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 25% of Chinese adults
can list the specific health hazards of smoking, from lung cancer to heart
disease. Perhaps it should come as no
surprise, then, that only 10% of Chinese smokers quit by choice. Instead, most
are forced to give up their cigarettes because they're too sick to continue. While smoking rates have fallen in
developed countries - to less than one in five in the US - they have risen in
China, as cigarettes have become more available and consumers richer. Authorities have shown concern over
the rise, with Beijing even introducing a public smoking ban. But efforts have
been hampered by the habit's popularity, and its usefulness as a source of tax
- the government collects about 428 billion yuan (£44billion, $67billion) in
tobacco taxes each year. Globally, tobacco kills up to half of
its users, according to the World Health Organization.