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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Tobacco will kill a billion this Century: WHO

Tobacco will kill a billion this Century: WHO

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published Published on Apr 19, 2011   modified Modified on Apr 19, 2011

Tobacco is a silent killer and the single largest cause of preventable disease including cancer, heart attacks, chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma. According to World Health Organisation, tobacco killed 100 million people in the 20th Century and will kill a billion people (ten times more) in the 21st.

Deaths due to tobacco in India are expected to rise from 1.4 per cent in 1990 to 13.3 per cent in 2020. A survey carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research revealed that one in every five male deaths and one in every 20 deaths are caused by tobacco smoking. A review of literature shows that India loses 54.8 lakh precious lives because of tobacco.

Dharamshila Hospital and Research Centre (DHRC) consultant surgical oncologist Dr. Anshuman Kumar says: “Sixty per cent of the patients reporting at DHRC are found suffering from cancers of the mouth (gum, tongue, cheek, and nasopharynx), larynx (voice box) oesophagus and lungs. Out of the 60,000 cancer patients reported at DHRC, 40 per cent are beedi smokers, 40 per cent tobacco chewers, 16 per cent cigarette smokers and 4 per cent passive smokers. Eighty per cent of the cancer patients reporting to DHRC are inoperable. However, patients reporting in early stages are being operated and have a very high probability of disease-free survival. The hospital's proactive initiatives on cancer awareness, early cancer detection, tobacco cessation clinics have helped it to downstage the cancer as well as help people quit smoking.”

Cigarettes contain cancer-causing tumour initiators and toxic agents such as arsenic, tar, ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, lead, DDT and acetaldehydes. Ninety per cent of lung cancers are tobacco-related.

“India has a high burden of sub-mucos fibrosis and oral cancer accounting for 1/3rd of the world burden. The rate of growth of gutka chewing has overtaken that of smoking forms of tobacco. Also the falling rates of lung cancer in the US and Europe are proof of the effective control methods used for tobacco consumption in these countries because of the awareness and cooperation of the citizenry. Quitting tobacco has major and immediate health benefits for all ages,” says DHRC physician Dr. Biswajit Sanyal.

“Mass education and dissemination of information on the harmful effects of tobacco is the only way to ensure that tobacco abuse is stopped,'' he adds.

The Hindu, 19 April, 2011, http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/19/stories/2011041961750500.htm


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