Tobacco consumption in any form is harmful for body and mind and can lead to extreme consequences.
According to the World Health Organization,
- Tobacco kills up to half of its users who don’t quit.
- Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year, including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke.
- Around 80% of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries.
- In 2020, 22.3% of the world’s population used tobacco: 36.7% of men and 7.8% of women.
- All forms of tobacco use are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco.
- Second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer, and kills around 1.3 million people prematurely every year. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
- Among smokers who are aware of the dangers of tobacco, most want to quit. Counselling and medication can more than double a tobacco user’s chance of successfully quitting.
- Brief advice from health professionals can increase quitting success rates by up to 30%, while intensive advice increases the chance of quitting by 84%.
This year’s theme ‘Protecting children from tobacco industry interference’ is a reminder that we will have to take active steps to protect our youth from this slow killer. The best way to start is to educate ourselves and our children about it. Let us do our bit and make this world a better place!