Passive smoking ‘kills 600,000’

The first global report by the World Health Organisation has found that 600,000 people are killed globally by passive smoking each year.

The study, in 192 countries, found that passive smoking causes heart disease, respiratory illness and lung cancer.

"This helps us understand the real toll of tobacco," said Armando Peruga, of the WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative, who led the study.

Researchers found that 40% of children, 33% of non-smoking men and 35% non-smoking women were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004 worldwide.

This exposure was estimated to have caused 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 from lower respiratory infections, 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer.

According to the study, the highest numbers of people exposed to second-hand smoke are in Europe and Asia.