ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 03rd Jun, 2018) Most people know that smoking causes cancer and lung disease, but what most people fail to realise is that tobacco use and exposure to second hand smoke are also major causes of cardiovascular disease, contributing to three million deaths a year.
"As countries marked the World No Tobacco Day 2018 on Thursday, both good and bad news have emerged from a World Health Organisation, WHO, report. While the good news is that tobacco use has declined markedly since 2000, the bad news is that the reduction is insufficient to meet globally agreed targets aimed at protecting people from death and suffering from cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases," said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Sunday.
The paper continued, "Despite the apparent lack of progress in tackling the total number of smokers, only one in five people smoke today, compared to more than one in four, 18 years ago. It should not be forgotten that the world’s growing population masks this decline.
"The lack of awareness about the risks of tobacco use is most common in low and middle-income countries, according to WHO’s Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Smoking 2000-2025.
"In China, for example, more than six out of 10 people are unaware that smoking can cause a heart attack. In India and Indonesia, meanwhile, more than half of all adults do not know that the habit can lead to a stroke.
"As far as the Eastern Mediterranean Region is concerned, a lot more still needs to be done on this subject."
In 2015, nearly 1.4 million deaths in the region were caused by cardiovascular disease. It has been estimated that in the next decade, deaths from cardiovascular disease, which in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is mostly attributable to ischaemic heart disease, will increase more significantly than in any other region of the world except Africa, as pointed out by Dr Jaouad Mahjour, Acting WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
What is more worrisome is that indications are tobacco use in the region has risen among men, women, boys and girls. In some countries of the region, the rates among youth are particularly worrying; they can reach 42 percent among boys and 31 percent among girls. This includes shisha which is more popular among youth than cigarettes.
"To keep the population safe, countries need to implement increasingly strict tobacco control measures. These include making indoor public and workplaces smoke-free and insisting that tobacco packaging carries warnings that demonstrate the health risks for users," concluded the Sharjah-based daily.
