Need food, not tobacco
Prof Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder and Mohimenul Islam Zipat :
‘World No Tobacco Day’ was introduced by the member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1987 to bring worldwide attention to the tobacco epidemic and the avertable threats it causes. The following day is celebrated annually on the day of 31st May and has a different theme focusing on different aspects of the issue. This year, the theme was decided to be “We Need Food, Not Tobacco.”
The tobacco industry is as we know, worldwide, and highly profitable. These industries are well aware of the threats this substance is capable of causing and still consciously continues its proud production without even bothering to cover up the dangers. This is due to the advantage of it being so rapidly contagious and addictive. They use the market of the vulnerable and target tendency of people wanting to depend on a substance that is legalised and readily available for purchase. Rather than palliating the issues resulting from tobacco products, the tobacco industry undermines policies aimed towards bringing down the smoking of tobacco and the harms that are associated with it. The substance that makes cigarettes addictive is called nicotine, which is a major reason why smoking cigarettes causes cancer, heart disease, chronic respiratory disease, and a swarm of other dangerous illnesses. And instead of hiding these risks the industry markets off it by creating positive public perceptions. Tobacco companies have involved themselves in and sponsored youth antismoking campaigns throughout the years.
Smoking is known to cause cancer, lung diseases, heart diseases, strokes, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It also shoots up the risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and troubles with the body’s immune system, which includes rheumatoid arthritis. Exposure to second hand smoke contributes to an approximate sum of 41,000 deaths among grown-ups that do not smoke, and 400 deaths in infants each year. Strokes, lung cancer, and coronary heart disease in adults are also caused by second hand smoke. Children who have shown symptoms and are commonly exposed to secondhand smoke are at a higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed or stunted lung growth. Women who smoke commonly face higher levels of difficulty getting pregnant and have an escalated risk of never being able to carry a child. Actively smoking during pregnancy can cause damage to tissues in the foetus, especially in the lung and brain. Some studies also suggest that there is a link between maternal smoking and cleft lip, which causes a handful number of sufferings to the child and requires years of long-term treatment. Studies have also suggested that there is a connection between tobacco and miscarriages. The compound called carbon monoxide present in tobacco smoke keeps the developing baby from getting sufficient concentration of oxygen. This smoke also contains various other toxic chemicals that can harm unborn babies.
About 35.3 per cent of Bangladesh’s adult population is active smokers, where 11.4 per cent of the country’s population is starving of food. The monthly average cost of a person smoking in Bangladesh is Tk. 1077.7, which will feed a starving person in the same country for at least two days. Tobacco companies are eating up the economy of the country. Thus, it is crucial to shift this revenue towards feeding the unfed.
Ever since the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health in 1964, communities have taken active initiatives for the reduction of smoking, decrease in non-smokers’ exposure to smoke, and increased possibilities of termination. Researchers have estimated that these efforts to control tobacco are associated with averting an estimated number of 8 million premature deaths and extending the average life expectancy of men by 2.3 years, followed by for women by 1.6 years. But then again, there is a prolonged path yet to move through. About 5.6 million adolescents under the age of 18 are expected to pass away prematurely as a result of smoking related illnesses.
Over 100 studies have shown that higher taxes on cigarettes produce significant reductions in smoking. Smoke-free workplace laws and restrictions have also shown to have benefits. Prevention can also be put into act at the school and community levels. Just simply educating the potential smokers about the health risks and has not been proven significantly effective.
International initiatives are all taken for their own sets valid reasons “World No Tobacco Day” is undoubtedly of these very crucial ones. But only observing one day a year to learn, spread awareness and implement actions for this cause is not where close to being enough. Although having a designated day helps with emphasizing on the importance of the cause, daily practices must be normalized for obvious reasons.
The world comes together to fight viral medical epidemics and pandemics. What we have failed to realise is that tobacco use is an epidemic, and its viral has been mentally spread and made contagious through human psychology for the sake of economic development. Our brains have been manipulated to think nicotine is a more important need than food. Whereas food is a biological need and nicotine is simply an addictive substance. This chain of manipulation needs to be broken, and our brains registering the need for food over addiction is the first step toward it.
(The writers are researchers at the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS).
