Smoking one cigarette a day harms smokers health – WHO
As the world mark No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that, smoking one cigarette a day can seriously harm a person’s health. no fewer than 1.2 million non-smokers die from exposure to tobacco smoke.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, in a message to mark the day noted that, tobacco kills half of its users as it harms nearly every organ in the human body.
“Tobacco use can lead to lung, mouth, throat, oesophagus, stomach, bowel, and other cancers. It increases the risk of chest and lung infections, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions. There is no safe form of tobacco.”
Millions of people have been motivated to quit tobacco during the COVID-19 pandemic because of evidence showing tobacco smoking impairs lung function, making it harder for the body to fight off coronavirus and other diseases.
According to her, out of the 1.3 billion tobacco users globally, 60 per cent have expressed the desire to quit but only 30% have access to the tools to do so successfully.
“Digital solutions can help to fill this gap and so at WHO we have introduced Florence, a digital health worker who gives brief advice on how to quit and links people with the tools and solutions that can help.
“More than 75 million people in the African Region use some form of tobacco. This burden is likely to increase as consumer purchasing power improves coupled with intensive efforts by the tobacco industry to expand the African market,” Moeti noted.
“Public health advocates should therefore actively pursue counter-marketing campaigns that highlight the many risks of tobacco use.”
She said WHO was supporting countries to scale-up programmes to help people quit tobacco, especially at the primary health care and community levels.
“National toll-free lines where tobacco users can call and get advice are available in six countries,” she added.
Nicotine replacement therapy is sold in pharmacies in 19 countries with governments fully covering the costs in Eswatini, Mauritius, and Seychelles.
Moeti called on governments and communities to be at alert to industry tactics to attract new users and keep people using tobacco, even when they are trying to quit.
“Products such as electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches are highly addictive and not recommended as strategies to reduce tobacco use.
She affirmed that WHO remains committed to supporting Member States to meet their obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Moeti further called on governments to improve access to these services, using a combination of approaches, such as toll-free quitlines, nicotine replacement therapy and digital solutions to empower people to quit.
READ ALSO: WHO supports people quitting tobacco to reduce risk of COVID-19
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