Chairman of Board of Management of Nishtar Hospital and Dentistry Multan has said that there was dire need of at least 15 new cancer hospitals in the country. Forty percent of cancers diagnosed in the World may have a link to tobacco use. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer and cancer deaths. Talking to media here on Tuesday he stressed the need to focus on comprehensive cancer control programmes to reduce cancer risk, detecting cancer early and improving cancer treatments.
Professor Dr Abrar Ahmad Javed, a renowned oncologist pointed out that the tobacco control could break the cycle of poverty, contribute to ending hunger, promote sustainable agriculture and economic growth and combat climate change. He said that tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world and by 2030, it would become the leading one with eight million deaths.
He further disclosed that 30 percent of all cancer deaths are caused by tobacco worldwide. Referring to Pakistan, he said that Pakistan had the highest consumption of tobacco in South Asia and 45 percent males as well as about 10 percent females smoked. "In just one year (2014), Pakistanis smokes 64 billion cigarettes costing the economy Rs 264 billion," he added. Citing a report of Euro Monitor 2015, he said that the consumption of chewable tobacco, the most dangerous form of tobacco, also increased in Pakistan. He pointed out that 45 percent of all cancers in Pakistan are caused by tobacco which included lung, mouth, throat, stomach, kidney, urinary, bladder and others. He declared that upcoming World No Tobacco Day would be celebrated under the slogan of "Tobacco-A Threat to Development" by the Cancer Society of Multan on May 31.