The tobacco epidemic is a worldwide phenomenon with significantly destructive effects on developing, transitional, and industrialized nations. The first scientific evidence on the health consequences of tobacco consumption-specifically, smoking-was discovered in industrialized nations. As a...

The study examines prevalence of tobacco use in Estonia, expenditures by smokers, and the prevalence of prominent diseases for which tobacco use is an important risk factor. It estimates private and public direct and indirect costs associated with smoking in Estonia for 1998, looking at health...

China has a very high prevalence rate of cigarette smoking. According to a 1996 Chinese national survey, 63% of adult males (age 15 and over) and 3.8% of adult females were current smokers (Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, 1997). These prevalence rates indicate that there are over 320...