China's rapid development has fueled a "time bomb" of health issues resulting from reckless driving, air pollution, ignorance about mental well-being and obesity, according to a new report.

In its new issue devoted to China's impending health crisis, the Lancet medical journal has pointed to signs of an imminent health crisis, warning China's leaders to learn from the errors of western countries and initiate preventive measures for most of the health problems they face.

Like Us on Facebook

Authors of the report included Emory University Professor Jeffrey Koplan; George Washington University's Huang Cheng and Professor Yu Hai from Zhejiang School of Medicine.

According to Lancet's fifth China-devoted issue, road accidents are the leading cause of death in China with around 800,000 lives lost from numerous car crashes in the country. These crashes commonly resulted from drunk or reckless driving.

Meanwhile, more than one million deaths were recorded in 2010 caused by illness acquired from inhaling the ever-thick smog in the country.

The Chinese government has projected deaths from smoking, or second-hand smoke, to rise to two million annually through 2020 and to three million a year by 2040.

Six Chinese residents are diagnosed with pollution-related cancers every minute resulting in nearly two million deaths each year since June 2013, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Mental well-being often is disregarded by many Chinese with a very small portion of the mentally ill population seeking help. Some 173 million Chinese individuals suffer from mental illness, according to the Lancet report.

Similar to the United States, obesity also quickly is becoming a dilemma for Chinese individuals with the report predicting a total of nearly one billion obese Chinese residents by the end of 2030.

"It must now wake up to its impending chronic health problems and take firm action," the report said, "posing a challenge to China's leaders who have proven to be able to set priorities and meet, or exceed, them.'

TagsPollution, obesity, health issues, drunk driving, reckless driving, mental illness, lancet, soking deaths, traffic deaths