LAGOS – Experts on Monday called for controlled measures against tobacco and smoking to reduce the severe negative implications to health.
The experts spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos ahead of the 2015 World No Tobacco Day om May 31.
NAN reports that “The World No Tobacco Day”, which is commemorated annually has the theme for 2015 as “Stop Illicit Trade Of Tobacco Products’’.
The Member States of the World Health Organisation created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.
The day is aimed at informing members of the public on the dangers of using tobacco and the business practices of tobacco companies.
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Dr Taiwo Oguntoyin, a Public Health Officer, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) identified tobacco as a leading cause of death, illness and hardship.
“The WHO said that approximately one person dies every six seconds due to tobacco, accounting for one in 10 adult deaths.
“Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related diseases.
“The tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people yearly with more than five million of the deaths being as a result of direct tobacco use.
“More than 600, 000 of those deaths are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke or what we call passive smoking.
“Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease, and if the current trends continue, tobacco may cause one billion deaths in the 21st century,’’ Oguntoyin said.
Dr Sanya Olusegun-Joseph, a Consultant Cardiologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said that there were many kinds of health challenges associated with tobacco usage.
“Tobacco use harms almost every organ in the body. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
“Smoking increases the risks of cardiovascular diseases and strokes,
“It causes a clot in the blood flow to the heart, which damages the heart muscle, thereby resulting to a heart attack or cardiac arrest.
“Smoking also affects the heart and blood vessels, leading to a blood clot in the heart, which damages the heart muscles and causes stroke.
“It can also cause respiratory and thoracic diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
“It makes the bones to have lower bone density and can lead to tooth colouration and loss.
“Smoking has also been proven to cause some form of cancers, including throat, larynx, liver, lung and colorectal cancers.
“In pregnancy, it can lead to low birth weight of the baby, early or preterm birth, still birth, ectopic pregnancy and some congenital diseases or birth defects.’’
Olusegun-Joseph noted that tobacco smoking also had adverse negative effect on the mental and social well-being of people who smoke or those that came in contact with tobacco smoke.
Dr Doyin Odubanjo, a Public Health expert said that passive smoking was also injurious to health and posed a huge public health challenge.
“Being around people that smoke, like in restaurants, joints, offices, motorparks and other places where tobacco products are being used also has the same health effects as one who smoke.
“The WHO says that second-hand smoke causes more than 600, 000 premature deaths per year.
“Science has it that over 250 known chemicals in tobacco smoke are harmful, while more than 50 are known to cause cancer.
“So, there is an urgent need to tackle smoking and the associated risks.
“Second hand smoke leads to same health challenges as in a smoker, such challenges as serious cardiovascular, coronary heart, respiratory diseases, lung cancer, sudden death and challenges in pregnancy.
“It also constitutes a huge source of air pollution too’’.
Odubanjo said that massive awareness, intensified public and social re-orientation as well as organised monitoring of tobacco usage and related marketing strategies were needed to curb illicit sale and consumption of tobacco in our society. (NAN)
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