World News: 600,000 lives lost each year to global passive smoking

Children are the group most heavily exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke, and around 165,000 of them die as a result.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) study is the first to assess the global impact of inhaling other people's smoke.

Based on 2004 data, the figures show smoking in that year killed almost six million people, either actively or passively.

Second-hand smoke was believed to have caused 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 from respiratory infections, 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer.

In addition 10.9 million years of disability-free life were lost globally because of passive smoking.

Dr Annette Pruss-Ustun, from WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, and her fellow authors wrote: "Exposure to second-hand smoke is still one of the most common indoor pollutants worldwide."

"We have estimated that second-hand smoke caused 603,000 deaths worldwide in 2004, corresponding to one per cent of all deaths."

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Zimbabwe PM sues president

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