HYDERABAD: Tobacco is a major world killer and the problem will get worse “if no action is taken and there will be 10 million deaths by 2020 and a billion by the end of the century if we allow current trends to continue.”

Addressing a seminar on the “World Tobacco Day” organised by the Provincial Health Educational Cell, Directorate General of Health Services Sindh, here on Saturday, on the theme “Tobacco free Youth” the DG Health Services Ghulam Nabi Memon highlighted and re-emphasised the injurious effect of smoking on human health.

He said the day aims at taking the message to patients suffering from heart disease and the general public and convince them to quit smoking.

D.G Health Services said smoking is the biggest fully avoidable cause of death and disability known to mankind and any support for the growth, distribution or sale of tobacco is indefensible on public health grounds, he added.

He said many of the college and school students are found to be regular smokers. He added that one of the most effective ways to protect young people from the harmful effects of tobacco use is to ban the promotion of the tobacco products.

DG Health Services explained the side effects of tobacco and said smoking has been proved to have really bad effects on the complexion, skin and muscles of the person among other things.

He said smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and severe eye damage, as well as a range of cancers, diseases and conditions, he added.

Ghulam Nabi Memon said there are many ways to tackle the challenge of quitting smoking and some people find that adding physical activity to their “quit plan” helps but if there are specific times when people are tempted to smoke, then changing their habit by doing some exercise might help to make it a less tempting time.

Director Nuclear Institute of Medical Radiology (NIMRA), Jamshoro, Dr. Shamshad Ali also expressed his views. He said it is an alarming fact that hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by breathing second-hand tobacco smoke.

He said smoking leads to heart attack, cancer of the lungs, of oral cavity, cancer of esophagus, lung diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema and smoking is also an important risk factor for stroke.

Dr. Shamshad Ali said smoking causes over 90 per cent chronic obstructive lung disease cases, the treatment of which is very difficult, where most patients end up with respiratory failure.

He said the other type of cancers associated with smoking include cancer of lips, tongue, mouth, throat, salivery glands and middle and lower pharynx.

He said smoking causes cancer and approximately 80 to 85 per cent of lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, mouth and tongue cancer besides cardiac problems, bronchitis, emphysema, TB of lungs and larynx are common owing to smoking, he added.

A specialist of Reproductive Child Health (RCH), Dr. Salma Bozdar said smoking increases chances of blood to clot and it decreases HDL (good) cholesterol and the risk increases greatly if one smokes and has a family history of heart disease.

She said the use of tobacco has led to an increase in the instances of heart diseases, stroke, emphysema and respiratory disorders and eventually death.

Dr. Salma Bozdar called for collective efforts to curb the menance. She said the government should impose a total ban on tobacco use especially in the educational institutions.

Deputy Director Health Education Sindh Ms. Seerat Shaheen said nicotine is the most toxic of all tobacco components and smoking has adverse effects on blood pressure, increases sympathetic tone and heart rate.

Madam Seerat said smoking cigarette is addictive yet a large number of people are still sticking to the habit, even after links to cancer and other diseases have been established.

She said smoking increases the risk of heart disease three times for a smoker as compared to a non- smoker and it greatly increases the danger to have heart attack when other risk factors like Hypertension or Diabetes Mellitus are also present in an individual.

He said tobacco advertising has a strong influence on children, as it “normalises” smoking, making it socially acceptable, and difficult for health education to convince people.

Director TB Control Dr. Asmat Ara said tobacco is the single

largest preventable cause of deaths in Pakistan, occurring by way of tuberculosis

and lung cancer and over 90 percent of such cancers are preventable if the use of tobacco is avoided, she said.

She further said nicotine is a powerful addictive substance, more powerful than heroin and once hooked the person becomes a life-long customer.

Dr. Asmat said the smoking causes over 90 per cent chronic obstructive lung disease cases, the treatment of which is very difficult, where most patients end up with respiratory failure.

President SHED, Dr. Zahid Sadder said tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world and it is well known that half the people who smoke regularly today and about 650 million people will eventually be killed by tobacco.

He said there is no doubt breathing second hand tobacco smoke (SHS) is very dangerous to our health and it causes cancer, as well as many serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in children and adults, often leading to death, added.

Dr. Zahid Sadder informed the audience that depression, style, sufferings and non-implementation on existing laws were major reasons for spread of smoking.

He said the Government has banned smoking at public places, but the decision is not being implemented even in government offices. Passive smokers also have risk to develop cancer, he added.

Public Relations Officer, Dr. Rafique Qureshi said tobacco is equally alarming for non-smokers, as hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by breathing second-hand tobacco smoke.

He said Pakistan needs a total ban on tobacco advertising if the country has to protect its young people or the young generation from the hazards of smoking.

Dr. Rafique Qureshi appealed to the citizens, especially parents to give up smoking and not to let their children smoke and called upon the government to ensure strict implementation of laws in this regard.

Dr. Qureshi called for strict enforcement of prohibition on smoking and protection of non-smoker ordinance of 2002 because smoking is regarded as the single largest preventable cause of death in Pakistan.

The Seminar was attended among others by the representatives of different governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), principals and students of different schools and colleges and paramedical staff and nurses of different hospitals.

The participants of the seminar called upon the Government to enforce the laws for strictly banning smoking at public places, offices, schools, colleges, during travel and also put a ban on advertisements of cigarettes in print and electronic media. (APP)

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