Tobacco
now kills some five million people each year.This death toll could
double to reach 10 million by 2020 if countries do not implement a
historic tobacco control pact aimed at curbing tobacco-related
deaths and diseases.
Only
ten days before the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates
this year’s World No-Tobacco Day, the World Health Assembly
unanimously adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The
Convention, adopted by the 192 members of the Assembly, is the
world’s first-ever attempt to promote a tobacco-free environment
within a legislative framework.
Four
years in the making, the FCTC has been a priority in the WHO’s
global work to stem the tobacco epidemic. While smoking rates are
declining in some industrialized countries, they are increasing,
especially among the young, in many developing countries. These
will account for over seventy percent of the projected death toll
resulting from tobacco (WHO).
To
come into force, the Convention must be signed by at least 40
countries. The Convention’s main focuses are:
-
Imposing
restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion.
-
Establishing
new labeling controls.
-
Establishing
new clean indoor air controls.
-
Strengthening
legislation to clamp down on tobacco smuggling.
Contrary
to the popular misconception that placing curbs on tobacco smoking
will have a negative impact on economies depending on the product,
recent economic analyses done by the World Bank show that the
social and health costs of tobacco far outweigh the direct
economic benefits that may result from tobacco cultivation and
manufacture (WHO).
World
No-Tobacco Day
This
year, the theme for World No-Tobacco Day is tobacco-free film and
fashion. “The WHO is calling on the entertainment industry, in
particular the world of film and fashion, to stop promoting a
product that has devastating effects on public health and to start
promoting a tobacco-free society” (WHO).
The
influence actors who smoke in films have on teenagers has been
shown by a study carried out by researchers at
Dartmouth
Medical College in Hanover ,
New England
. The study, which analyzed 178 films, revealed that fans of
actors who play characters who smoke on screen are much more
likely to smoke themselves or be pro-tobacco than fans of
non-smoking actors.
The
study showed that teenage fans were up to three times more likely
to smoke or be pro-tobacco if their favorite actors smoked in at
least three films. After concluding the study the researchers
said:"We believe this evidence strongly suggests that media
portrayals of tobacco use by popular movie stars contribute to
adolescent smoking."
An
estimated 80% of adult smokers began smoking before the age of 18.
Each day, approximately 5,000 youngsters under the age of 18 smoke
their first cigarette.
Smoking:
A Worldwide Epidemic
According
to the WHO, there are 1.1 billion smokers around the world. That
makes up around one third of the adult global population. Smoking
causes more death and disability than any other single disease,
accounting for 7% of all deaths, with about 13,700 people dying
each day of tobacco-related illnesses.
The
WHO’s projection that states that tobacco will result in more
than 10 million deaths annually by the year 2020 would make it the
leading cause of death and disability, thus becoming more lethal
than HIV, tuberculosis, car accidents, maternal mortality, suicide
and homicide combined.
There
is an estimated 42% of men and 24% of women that smoke in
developed countries, while in developing countries 48% of men and
7% of women smoke. There are 800,000 smokers and an estimated one
million people who die annually from tobacco in developing
countries.
In
the United States, smoking is the leading cause of preventable death leading to
more than 440,000 deaths annually. The health care costs
associated with tobacco-related illnesses in the U.S are more than
$75 billion.
In
developing countries cigarette sales have increased by 80% since
1990. In
Africa
the annual rise in the rate of smoking is estimated to be 2.5%
higher than in other developing countries. It is anticipated in
the next 20 years that tobacco-related diseases will become the
number one cause of death in
Africa.
Exposure
to Second Hand Smoke
|
|
|
Parents
who smoke around their children increase their risk of
respiratory diseases |
One
of the most sordid facts about smoking is that not only does it
affect the person who chooses to smoke, exposure to second hand
smoke can and does affect non-smokers, especially children whose
bodies are still developing. Parents who smoke around their
children increase their risk of occurrence of sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS), middle ear infections and cause an increased
incidence of respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis, pneumonia,
asthma and lower respiratory tract infections.
Second
hand smoke is also a cause of lung cancer and coronary heart
disease in adults who are lifetime non-smokers. Environmental
tobacco smoke (ETS) is listed by the National Institutes of Health
as a human carcinogen. Therefore exposure to ETS is a causative
factor of human cancer. Around 3,000 deaths caused by lung cancer
occur each year among adult non-smokers. Studies also show that
ETS is the cause of 35,000 deaths from ischemic heart disease in
the U.S each year.
Smoking
in Children
|
|
|
Over
6.4 million children will die prematurely due to smoking |
The
global tobacco epidemic is predicted to prematurely claim the
lives of some 250 million children and adolescents, a third of who
are in developing countries (WNTD). Over 6.4 million children
living today will die prematurely due to smoking. Studies have
shown that children can become addicted to tobacco after smoking
only a few cigarettes.
According
to a report in the journal Tobacco Control, a study performed on
nearly 700 schoolchildren in the U.S with an average age of 12
showed that a quarter of the children who smoked had cravings
within two weeks of beginning to smoke, some even had symptoms of
addiction within days of starting to smoke.
Women
who smoke during pregnancy place their babies at an increased risk
of miscarriage, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth
retardation.
Smoking
is a worldwide epidemic and all possible measures should be taken
to raise awareness of the international impact of tobacco use and
to promote a tobacco-free environment. World No-Tobacco Day is an
excellent opportunity to do so.
Sources:
-
WHO,
2003: World
No Tobacco Day.
-
Derbyshire,
David, 2001: Teenagers
are influenced by smoking idols on the screen. Telegraph.
-
Hall,
Celia, 2000: A few cigarettes 'enough to make children
addicts'.
Telegraph.
-
Weissman,
Robert, 2000: Intl-tobacco
Smoking - Africa's lurking killer.
-
American
Lung Association, 2003: Tobacco
Control.
-
BBC
News. 2003: Smoking.
-
CDC,
2002: Exposure
to Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Cotinine Levels — Fact Sheet
-
CDC.
Women
and Smoking
-
World
No Tobacco Day.Tobacco
Use Facts.
-
Foulkes,
Imogen, 2003: Anti-tobacco
treaty agreed. BBC News.
-
Aetna
InteliHealth, 2003: Smoking.
-
ACK
Cheng, CP Pang, ATS Leung, JKH Chua, DSP Fan, DSC Lam, The
association between cigarette smoking and ocular diseases.
HKMJ 2000; 6(2): 195-202
-
CDHA.
Smoking
and Your Oral Health.
-
Health
and age, 2001: The
Negative Effects of Smoking on Bones, Joints and Healing.
-
WHO,
2003. The
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: A Primer
Aisha
El-Awady is an IslamOnline.net staff-writer. She has a
bachelor’s degree in medicine from Cairo University and is currently working
as instructor of Parasitology in the Faculty of Medicine. She may be
contacted at aawady@islam-online.net
