Passive Smoking Deaths in India Surge 50% Since 1990

A study in The Lancet Public Health reports that deaths linked to second-hand smoke in India rose by nearly 50% since 1990, reaching 3,25,600 fatalities in 2023.

Despite a decline in the age-standardised prevalence of exposure from 43.2% in 1990 to 30.6% in 2023, population growth increased the total number of exposed individuals to 444 million.

India now records the world's second-highest exposure rate after China, with the study noting that 1,68,700 men and 1,56,900 women died from passive smoking-related complications in 2023.