Pakistan Marks 'World No Tobacco Day' Today

Like rest of the world, Pakistan is also observing the "World No Tobacco Day" to create awareness among the people about the dangers and adverse effects of tobacco on our health. 

In Pakistan, 19% of the people, over the15 years, use tobacco in any form, and every year, it kills 118,000 people in the country. It costs the country around Rs615bn annually on smoking-related illnesses.

Pakistan has placed a total ban on tobacco and its related products advertisements.

The sale of loose cigarettes and the display of banners or placards of cigarette brands at the point of sale is also prohibited. Pakistan has also disallowed selling cigarettes near educational institutions.

The country signed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2005, a commitment to reduce tobacco consumption and ensuring the people’s right to the highest standards of health.

Around the globe, the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest health threats the world has ever met, which take the lives of over eight million people a year around the world.

Out of those, more than seven million of deaths are caused by direct tobacco use whereas around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers which are being exposed to second-hand smoke.

The most common form of tobacco use worldwide is cigarette smoking while cigars, waterpipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco ,various smokeless tobacco products, , cigarillos, , pipe tobacco, bidis, and kreteks are other tobacco products.

As per WHO, waterpipe tobacco use damages the health in similar ways as cigarette tobacco use. But the health dangers of waterpipe tobacco use are not much understood by users.

Smokeless tobacco consists of many toxins and its use increases the risk of various cancers including head, neck, throat, oesophagus, and oral cavity as well as various dental diseases.

According to the studies, few people understand the exact health risks of tobacco use but when smokers become aware of the tobacco dangers, most of them want to quit.

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Without proper support, only 4% of attempts to quit tobacco will succeed whereas with professional support and proven medications, there is more than double chance a of successfully quitting the habit.