Medical Experts project 800,000 lung cancer cases a year in China by 2020

Cases of lung cancer in China are expected to hit 800,000 in the next five years with 700,000 deaths a year due to air pollution, according to Medical experts.

Time reported that there are 600,000 lung cancer deaths a year in China, the most fatalities than any country in the world. Some 700,000 Chinese has been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015.

The Business Insider wrote that even though one of every three young Chinese men die from smoking tobacco, experts believe that air pollution will surpass smoking as the major cause of lung cancer in the country. Air pollution is becoming worse in China every year since it goes unmitigated.

Beijing Capital Medical University Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center head Zhi Xiuyi said, "The rapid increase of the disease will last for at least 20 years."

In a report by Zee News the Chinese government launched health measures as response to the growing air pollution problem. Health measures include cutting down smoking. However, Zhi it is the issue on smog that should be solved.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission is working on a nationwide network aimed at monitoring the effects of air pollution on human health to help in the advancement in research. It will be putting up more than 40 monitoring sites in 16 provinces and municipalities engulfed by smog.

Air pollution in Beijing reached the maximum 500 on Monday. The government considers it severely polluted. Meanwhile the U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported an air quality of 571, which the US Environmental Protection Agency standards considers hazardous. On that day, PM2.5, which are small particles that can go straight to the lugs and cause lung cancer, reached 608 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the U.S. Embassy index.

In the US, an air pollution reading above 300 is already extremely rare, according to the EPA. This level is usually only seen during forest fires and other major catastrophic events.