Excerpt
JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): Even as smoking declines in the U.S. and other countries, a new study published in the British medical journal "The Lancet" reveals that the use of tobacco in developing countries is booming.
The report titled "The Global Adult Tobacco Survey" looked at tobacco users in 14 developing nations and included data from the U.S. and the U.K. for comparison. It found that about half the men across the low- and middle-income nations use tobacco, mostly smoke products. The number was much smaller for women, 11 percent. But the survey found that women are start at younger ages than in the past.
Russia had the highest rates -- 60 percent of men and 22 percent of women used tobacco in some form. And China had the largest number of users, some 300 million.
In the meantime, health advocates in Australia, which wasn't included in the new study, scored a victory last week in their fight against tobacco use. The nation's high court upheld a new law requiring that cigarette boxes feature vivid images and warnings on them without company logos.
The World Health Organization says that if current trends continue, the global death toll from tobacco will reach eight million a year by 2030.
And we're joined now by Gary Giovino, the lead epidemiologist on the new study. He's the chair of the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at the University at Buffalo in New York.
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