Health concern in Commonwealth

Health concern in Commonwealth

WELLINGTON (AP): New Zealand team doctor Richard Edmond said
yesterday he had serious concerns about the dangers of smog at
September's Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Edmond, a team doctor at three Olympic Games and two
Commonwealth Games, was named to head a 12-member medical team to
accompany New Zealand's competitors.

He said the medical team was the biggest for a games because
of the problems with pollution in Malaysia.

"It's a medical concern," Edmond said. "I've read that
breathing the smog there at the moment is the equivalent of
smoking 1000 cigarettes a month. So you can imagine what that
does to lungs, and people who aren't used to that certainly will
be affected with their breathing."