On Jan. 9, 2024, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (HHMI) reported that despite a gradual decline in smoking rates over time, exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) continues to cause harm to nonsmokers, who are disproportionately children and women living in low- and middle-income countries. The study was published in Nature Medicine.

The 2019 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) estimated that 1.3 million (1.0ﾖ1.6) deaths were attributable to second hand smoke globally in 2019, with the largest burden concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.