 INTRODUCTION

Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and
the smoke breathed out by smokers. Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000
chemicals. Hundreds are toxic and about 70 can cause cancer.
In 2016, an estimated one-fifth of males and one-third of females globally were exposed to
secondhand smoke.
Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with numerous adverse health effects, even
among children and unborn babies, and causes substantial mortality and morbidity globally. In
2016 alone, for example, it caused an estimated 884,000 deaths. The years of life lost due to ill-
health, disability, or early death because of secondhand smoke was 6.4 million years for lower
respiratory infections, 2.5 million for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and more than
200,000 for middle ear infection.
Exposure to secondhand smoke is common in many countries, notably in Asia. In Indonesia and
Pakistan, for example, more than 80% of people are exposed to secondhand smoke in
restaurants.
Variations in smoke-free laws and enforcement of these laws greatly affects levels of exposure.
Due to these variations, prevalence of exposure to secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants is
relatively low in several European Union member states (<10%) but is far higher in some others
(e.g., nearly 80% in Greece in 2017). After implementation of comprehensive laws in Turkey in
2009, exposure prevalence in workplaces and restaurants dropped substantially— from 37% and
56% respectively in 2008 to 16% and 13% in 2012.
Within countries, some groups demonstrate higher exposure levels and related burden, such as
those of lower socioeconomic groups and non-smoking women. For example, secondhand
smoke causes more deaths in women than in men globally (573,000 vs. 311,000 in 2016) and
more lung cancer deaths among women than men in China (40,000 vs. 12,000 in 2013).
(Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 2011-2015)

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 6 lakh out of 60 lakh deaths every year due
to tobacco are due to second-hand smoke. "In India, 10 lakh people die every year due to
tobacco.
"There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke." So all forms of tobacco are
deadly and cause diseases and disabilities. "In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious
cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In
infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.
( Dr. Rama Kant, WHO Director-General's Awardee and a senior surgeon,-2013)