About 400,000 people die of smoking in Russia annually-Onishchenko

MOSCOW, January 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Some 400,000 people die of smoking
in Russia annually. "This is the deaths that occurred earlier than they
could be - so, a person dies by 10-25 years earlier than without smoking,"
the chief state sanitary doctor and the chief of the Federal Service for
Supervision of Consumers Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), Gennady
Onishchenko, said live in a radio interview on the Echo of Moscow radio
station on Sunday.
Onishchenko emphasized that 60-70% of men and 15-20% of women are
smoking in Russia. Some 27% of young men and 24% of young women are
smoking, he noted.
"Russia produces more than 400 billion cigarettes. Some 2,911
cigarettes fall on each of us," the Rospotrebnadzor chief said.
In order to stop the growth of smokers Onishchenko proposes to
increase the tobacco prices. "It is already proved, moreover, proved in
many European countries that a 10% increase in the cigarette prices will
bring down the number of smoking beginners by 10-15%," he pledged.

-0-baz