275 Million tobacco users in India: Study

India has nearly 275 million tobacco users and is just behind China who has approximately 301 million tobacco users, says a study published in The Lancet (medical journal).

Gary Giovino of the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in New York and his team has carried out the research and has found out that half of the world still consumes tobacco and there are very few who Quits.

"Quit ratios were low in China, India, Egypt, Russia, and Bangladesh less than 20 % overall ".

However the biggest concern is the rise in tobacco use among young women.

Gary said, "Although 1.1 billion people have been covered by the adoption of the most effective tobacco control policies since 2008, 83 percent of the world's population are not covered by two or more of these policies".

Bangladesh, Mexico, Russia, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and 16 other developing countries were included in the research.

Where China has high percentage of smokers nearly 95 %, India on the other hand has more number of smokeless tobacco users 206 million.

India has 33 % of male smokeless tobacco users, which is the highest. Bangladesh has 26.4 % while other countries have it well below 5 per cent. Study said, "Various forms of loose-leaf chewed tobacco are commonly consumed in the Indian subcontinent. Smokeless tobacco use is particularly prevalent in India, Bangladesh, and in Thai women. Approximately 52 per cent of oral cancers in India are attributable to the use of smokeless tobacco products".

Russia has the highest number of Male smokers (60%), China has 53 % Male smokers while has the lowest figure among the 16 countries.

Study adds, "Bidis produce risks for several diseases that are at least as high as those for manufactured cigarettes".

According to WHO, tobacco kills around 6 million people every year worldwide and this could reach to 8 million people a year by 2030.