Tobacco kills eight million people every year: WHO

ISLAMABAD: World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said that enough scientific evidence is available to prove that tobacco is harmful in all its forms and disguise as it kills over eight million people every year worldwide.

According to WHO, tobacco smoking and second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and tuberculosis and tobacco smoke in itself is a very dangerous form of air pollution.

On the eve of this year’s World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) has asked the people to protect their lungs by not only quitting tobacco smoking but also saying no to second-hand smoke.

It said that tobacco smoking is the primary cause for lung cancer, responsible for over two thirds of lung cancer deaths globally.

It said that around 38% of men and 4% of women are smokers and in some countries, as many as 57% of men and 29% of women smoke.

It said that there is huge burden of tobacco use in Pakistan. As many as 19.1 % adults use tobacco in any form, men 31.8 % and women 5.8% Among the youth (13-15 years of age), the prevalence is 13.3 and 6.6 % among boys and girls respectively.

As per Global Adult Tobacco Survey that was conducted in Pakistan in 2014, the current adult tobacco smokers and smokeless tobacco users were 12.4 % and 7.7 % respectively and exposure to second hand smoke was 48.3 %.

On the conservative estimates keeping in view the increase in population, tobacco attributable deaths may amount to 227,000 per year.

“Smoking among young people is particularly worrying,” says Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “It has reached 42% in boys and 31% in girls”. This includes smoking shisha, which is more popular among young people than cigarettes.

“By 2025, smoking is expected to rise in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, contrary to the trend in the rest of the world,” explains Dr Al-Mandhari. “This will lead to an escalating epidemic of lung disease regionally”.

He said governments made commitments to reduce tobacco use by 30% by 2025. Its time to accelerate tobacco control legislation and the implementation of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and MPOWER measures to reduce demand for this deadly product.

“Policies are in place to help achieve this target,” says Dr Al-Mandhari.

“The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the MPOWER measures to reduce demand for this deadly product can help us beat tobacco and save lives.”

“Stop tobacco from taking your breath away. Tobacco kills one person every four seconds. Do not be that person and do not contribute to the death toll,” says Dr Palitha Mahipal, WHO Head of Pakistan.

He said tobacco is deadly in any form or disguise. Tobacco killed 100 million during the last century and if current trends persist, tobacco, by the end of this century, will kill a billion people or more unless urgent action is taken.

Dr Palitha said that a recent high level WHO Mission on tobacco taxation has held extensive technical discussions with the Federal Bureau of Revenue, met with high ups and advocated for an immediate elimination of the third-tier and enhanced tobacco taxation and we would see it happening.

“We have high hopes that the Prime Minister, who himself is a champion, and our Health Minister, would leave no stone unturned to protect the health of the people.

Dr Palitha advocated for strict tobacco control laws, large-sized pictorial health warning on tobacco packs, implementation of plain packaging, comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship, enhanced tobacco taxation and implementation of health tax” on tobacco products and continued health awareness campaigns.