Dear Sir,

Because men are more at risk of the Wuhan nCoV virus, health officials suspect that smoking-damaged lungs are more vulnerable to further damage from the Wuhan virus.

This applies to both catching the infection but particularly to the death rate, which is recently reported at about three or four males to every female.

Given that about 50 percent of males in China smoke compared with only 3 percent of females, it is imperative that China document the smoking habits of all patients diagnosed with the virus.

The problem is that the epidemic is being handled by infectious-disease medical staff — people who are not switched on to the fact that smokers’ lungs are damaged and therefore more susceptible.

There may be other causes of the gender imbalance, but the skewered statistics of male predominance suggest that, in the meantime, it would surely be prudent for all smokers to quit. Quitting should not be a short-term measure, but lifelong, to avoid not only lung damage, but also a formidable array of health problems and premature death.

Judith Mackay

Director, Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control