Marking World No Tobacco Day on May 31, health experts and global agencies are renewing calls to combat tobacco addiction, warning that misconceptions about smoking continue to endanger millions, particularly young people
Tobacco is a silent enemy of human health, whose destructive power is no longer a matter of doubt. Over the past several decades, thousands of scientific studies worldwide have indisputably proven that smoking or consuming tobacco in any form is fatal to the body. Despite this, when young adolescents and youths are seen consuming cigarettes, bidis, e-cigarettes, gutkha, pan masala, or other tobacco products, it appears to be a crisis not just of health, but of social and mental consciousness.
Misconception of smoking
In reality, many misconceptions harbor in the minds of adolescents regarding tobacco. They believe that smoking reduces stress, boosts self-confidence, makes the personality attractive, calms the mind, or serves as a symbol of modernity and maturity. This illusion is further deepened by the influence of advertisements, movies, social media, and peer groups, whereas the scientific truth is completely contrary. Tobacco neither grants strength, nor enhances personality, nor offers a permanent solution to stress. The reality is that tobacco is a slow poison that silently leaves its destructive impact inside the body. It pushes a person gradually toward death by giving rise to cancer, heart diseases, lung ailments, strokes, and numerous fatal illnesses. Therefore, awareness against tobacco has today become a battle for the survival of future generations, not just health.
With the objective of awakening people to quit tobacco and never touch it again, 'World No Tobacco Day' is celebrated globally every year on May 31st. Its purpose is to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco consumption and its negative health impacts, which cause millions of deaths worldwide annually. This year, World No Tobacco Day is being observed with the theme "Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction". While setting this theme, special attention has been paid to the worrying trend of marketing methods designed by the tobacco industry to target the youth. According to the WHO, young people worldwide are rapidly falling prey to the attraction and exposure of tobacco products through social media and live streaming platforms, posing a major threat to their health and social welfare. Global surveys consistently reveal that in most countries, children aged 13–15 are using tobacco and nicotine products.
Millions of deaths
Although all tobacco products like hookah, gutkha, khaini, and zarda cause severe damage to health, its most harmful form is smoking, which causes millions of deaths every year. Smoked by smokers, more than 70 billion cigarettes are puffed away in a year. We can estimate how much the environment is polluted by the smoke of these very cigarettes puffed every year from the fact that this dangerous smoke dissolves about 50 tons of copper, 15 tons of lead, 11 tons of cadmium, and several other hazardous chemicals into the atmosphere. However, due to cigarettes being expensive, the prevalence of bidi is higher among the lower and middle-class segments in India, and it is estimated that bidis worth more than 100 billion rupees are consumed annually in the country.
A slow poison
According to a government study, around 1.04 lakh crore rupees are spent annually on treating diseases caused by tobacco consumption. Three decades ago, in my book 'Maut Ko Khula Nimantran' (An Open Invitation to Death), I explained in detail that smoking is indeed a slow poison that gradually gives rise to fatal diseases in our body and slowly delivers a person to their deathbed.
Globally, 7.7 million people died in 2019 due to smoking, out of which 1.7 million deaths were caused by ischemic heart disease, 1.6 million by COPD, 1.3 million by tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer, and 1 million due to stroke. According to reports, 1 out of every 5 male deaths worldwide is occurring due to smoking. Various surveys indicate that in developed countries, more than forty percent of men and over twenty-one percent of women smoke, whereas in developing countries, only eight percent of women are addicted to it, while the number of men exceeds fifty percent. According to the World Health Organization, about eight thousand people die every day due to lung cancer caused by tobacco consumption. The organisation estimates that if the addiction to smoking continues to rise at this rate worldwide, very soon fifty crore (500 million) people will have been killed by smoking, and in the next thirty years, the number of deaths from smoking in poor countries alone will rise from one million to seven million. The organisation estimates that every year, more than eight thousand newborn babies meet an untimely demise globally due to smoking. Data shows that smoking accounts for about 40 percent of all types of cancer. The WHO states that smoking can also be highly dangerous in diseases like cancer, heart disease, respiratory illness, and diabetes, which is why every individual must stay away from smoking.
Benefits of quitting
Nevertheless, regarding the benefits of quitting smoking, the World Health Organization states that within just twenty minutes of quitting smoking, there is a drop in high blood pressure, and after twelve hours, the level of toxic carbon monoxide particles in the blood returns to normal. In two to twelve weeks, lung function increases rapidly, and in one to nine months, coughing and respiratory problems decrease. According to the WHO, human lungs possess a magical capacity to self-repair some of the damage caused by smoking, and forty percent of the cells in individuals who quit smoking become just like those who have never smoked.
(The author is a senior journalist and wrote the book 'Mout Ko Khula Nimantran' on the harmful effects of addiction)
