Tobacco kills over eight million people every year worldwide

ISLAMABAD: World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday 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.

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.”