According to a landmark study published in The Lancet Public Health, deaths attributed to second-hand smoke in India have soared by nearly 50% over the last three decades, claiming an estimated 325,600 lives in 2023 alone.
India now holds the grim distinction of having the world’s second-highest number of people exposed to passive smoking, trailing only China. A staggering 444 million Indians are regularly inhaling toxic tobacco smoke from those around them.
