Using online resources, can we explore gender and smoking rate globally? Two worlds: Marlboro men lose policy.org/Updates/Update34_dat a.htm www,worldmapper.org

In countries where male and female smoking rates differ, do life expectancies differ as well?

% of Males and Females who Smoke in Selected Countries, with Life Expectancy 44 62/ Life expectancy

Rates of smoking around the world range from a high of 80% of males in Afghanistan to a low of less than 1 % of females in Ethiopia and India. We expect that smoking rates are correlated with life expectancy, but other factors are also involved. In Russia, smoking is one of the factors that contributes to the 12 year difference in life expectancy between men and women. Why isn’t this true in China?

Male and Female Life Expectancy at Birth

Chinese rates of cigarette consumption have increased from 200 per person per year to over 1300 per person per year in We know from US experience that it takes years for smoking related diseases to develop; we predict that without large scale efforts to reduce smoking in men in China, that mortality rates for men will increase. It is estimated that 33% of male mortality in China will be due to smoking related causes by 2030 (Niu 1999, BMJ).