In our country people are no longer allowed to smoke in public places from May 1st this year. This rule is trying to protect people from secondary smoke.
Secondary smoke is the smoke that comes from a smoker’s breath, or from the end of a cigarette(香烟). If people breathe in secondary smoke from time to time, they could get sick from it.
But how serious is the problem of secondary smoke? To find out, the World Health Organization (WHO) did a study recently of 194 countries. They found that secondary smoke causes about 600,000 deaths every year. This is about one percent of the world’s deaths!
Secondary smoke is especially bad for children because their bodies are still growing and developing(发育). According to the study, around 165,000 children under the age of 5 die each year from diseases caused by secondary smoke. Most of these deaths happen in Africa and southern Asia.
Now more and more countries realize this serious problem and make strict rules to stop smoking in public places like school, hospitals and buses. In china, it just begins.
At the same time, you can do something to help protect yourself and other people from secondary smoke. You can start by asking the smokers you know, such as your parents, to smoke less or give up smoking. And, if someone smokes close to you, you’d better walk away.