To mark the World No Tobacco Day, a programme held at Himalayan Institute of Medical Science Hospital, Jolly Grant on Saturday highlighted the health risks associated with tobacco use.
Different non-government organisations and socio-cultural bodies also organised separate programmes in Dehradun and other parts of the State to raise mass awareness against tobacco consumption. The institute head Prof (Dr) Anita Sharma advocated the effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption while highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), the global tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year in the world, of which, considerable number of people are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke. If the trend is continued, the epidemic will kill more than 8 million people every year by 2030.
As per WHO, more than 80 per cent of these preventable deaths will be among people living in low-and middle- income countries. Besides, large number of people become physically retarded every year due to tobacco related diseases, revealed a study carried out by WHO in previous years.There has been marginal increase in mortality rate due to tobacco consumption in the State. The smoking rate among children aged 9-10, youth and women has been increased for the last many years. Around 40 per cent youth and children are directly or indirectly consuming tobacco.
Reports revealed that teens give many reasons for why they start smoking: “My friends smoke”, “I just wanted to try it”, “I thought it was cool”, “My parents smoke” among others. Those persons are willing to quit smoking should use nicotine replacement therapy after consulting the doctor. The use of nicotine replacement therapy increases the success of initially quitting smoking by 50 to 70 per cent. Apart from this, persons’ self-determination and doctor’s counselling may help them quitting smoking.