World No Tobacco Day is being observed today across the globe.
Organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the day is annually observed on May 31. This day aims to raise awareness about the health risks associated with tobacco use. ‘We Need Food, Not Tobacco’ is the theme for this year’s World No Tobacco Day.
Key points of Tobacco
- Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
- Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year.
- Over 80% of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries.
- In 2020, 22.3% of the global population used tobacco, 36.7% of all men and 7.8% of the world’s women.
- The WHO MPOWER measures are in line with the WHO FCTC and have been shown to save lives and reduce costs from averted healthcare expenditure.
There is no healthy way to smoke tobacco. Long-term risks include cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use worldwide. On this occasion, let’s read some facts about smoking cigarette:
- A 50% chance of dying from a smoking-related disease.
- Smoking causes about 90% (or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths.
- Smoking one cigarette can take 11 minutes off your life– that’s 14 days gone from smoking only 5 cigarettes a day over 1 year.
Way of quitting smoking
- Don’t have ‘just one’.
- Do physical activity
- Try relaxation techniques
- Go online for support
- Remind yourself of the benefits which are:
- Feeling better
- Getting healthier
- Saving money
