Dec. 13, 2010 /EIN Presswire/ — A new study conducted by the World Health Organization found that second-hand smoke kills more than 600,000 people each year.
WHO researchers estimate that “as many as 40 percent of children, 35 percent of women, and 33 percent of men are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke indoors.”
The majority of the world’s smokers live in low-to-middle-income countries where the impact of second-hand smoke related illness and death is the most prevalent. The study found that every year 165,000 children under the age of 5 are infected with or die from diseases induced by second-hand smoke. Most of these deaths occur in Africa or South Asia.
Previous studies found that even minimal intake of second-hand smoke by children produced genetic abnormalities. According to a study by Jonathan Samet and Heather Wipfli, public health experts from the University of Southern California, more than 88 percent of parents who smoke smoke at home and 80 percent smoke around their children. Researchers urge parents not to smoke near their children and believe that more needs to be done to create smoke-free environments in public places.
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