Eighty per cent of more than 300 million users of smokeless tobacco in roughly 70 countries live in either India or Bangladesh, according to global use study touted as the first of its kind.

Although use of smokeless products by men is prevalent in the high-use region, which reaches into Southeast Asia, use by adult women is equal or greater in some low and middle and low-income countries, authors said in a statement. Thirty-two experts from around the world contributed to Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health: A Global Perspective, released at a health and smoking conference in Mumbai, India, by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute.