327 Views Posted on 24-Mar-2010 under Health

At least 650 million out of 1.5 billion tobacco smokers are estimated to die through tobacco related disease. 650 million are the productive middle age people.

According to the World Health Organization report on tobacco smoking, more than 5 million children living today will die prematurely as a result of the decision to use tobacco and smoke cigarettes.

Tobacco smoking may look cool for the start but very dangerous in terms of addictions which commonly cause a wide variety of diseases like cancer, among others and death.

There are 4000 chemicals so far identified in the tobacco of which 100 is identified as poison and 63 known for causing cancer.

The most talked about drug in the tobacco is nicotine.

Nicotine is vasoconstrictor and a nerve toxin that has been classified as an effective insecticide. Other poisons include arsenic, cynide, formaldehyde (used in embalming bodies) and Ammonia bromide which is also used as a toilet cleaner.

The vast majority of tobacco users and smokers are hooked at a tender age when they are easily influenced by peer pressure and deceptive advertisements.

The reports stated that as a result of the exposure to the environmental smoke, an estimated 300,000 non smoking Americans die of lung cancer, and 300,000 children suffer from lower respiratory track infections added that 3 million young people under age smoke half a billion cigarettes each year and that more than one-half of them consider themselves dependent upon cigarettes.

According to the reports, 90% of adult smokers get addicted to tobacco before they reach the age of 18.

Currently, the average age of initiation to tobacco is 11.

Tobacco smokers are exposed to the risk of being infected with psoriasis (a non-contiguous inflammatory skin condition that leaves itchy, oozing red patches all over the body), cataracts, wrinkling, hearing loss, cancer, tooth decay, emphysema, osteoporosis, heart disease, stomach ulcers, discoloured fingers, cervical cancer and miscarriage, deformed sperm, buergers diseases (thromboangitis) which causes the dead of the body tissue.

Madam K. Wellington, Ghana Health research Unit in an interaction in an interaction with the Health Digest said that Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the World health Organization conducted a survey in schools which 412 students participated.

According to the participants 11.5% said they are had never smoked before and 14.4% said they are currently under the usage of tobacco whilst 4.0 % admitted that they smoke cigarette but 14.6% said they had never used tobacco in their life.

Madam Wellington used this medium to advised students and the teenagers against the use of tobacco products.

She said a bill has been passed out which would soon be made a law to ban smokers from doing so in the public places.

Smoking of tobacco cigarette in the public is something many wouldn’t like to tolerate in their daily life but it is gradually becoming acceptable as a normal thing to go by in Ghana.

Even though there is a pending bill yet to be approved by the parliament of Ghana to make it law that will ban people from smoking in the public.

The supposed law though delayed to be implemented it would go a long way to check the passive smoking.

18 months has elapsed since the bill was drafted the government is still slow in passing out the law for whatever reason health digest news is up to getting it.

Health Digest news has gathered that the Ghanaian market has been invaded with several brands of tobacco that have no inscription of the warning from the ministry of health.

According to Ms. Akua Amartey, Deputy Chief Executive of Food and Drug Board, permit to import cigarette products into the country has been issued to British American tobacco, Edward Smile and Target Link yet new cigarette products have invaded into the market without the inscription from the ministry of health and Food and drug Board that being marketed in the country.

She said most of the cigarettes are smuggled into the country through the various borders which new mechanism is put in place to check and deal with such smugglers.

Ghana is among the 150 countries that rectified the World Health Organization frame work convention on tobacco control.

In the eve of this, the government enacted a bill that could have gone a long way to cease passive smoking in the country.

The supposed bill after the 18 months of its enactment is still locked up at the parliament house as the move to implement it has become another difficult task.

This if implemented could go a long way to check passing on smoking to a passers-by.

The system of passing on tobacco smoking to another person is done by smoking in the public places where many sit to relax and at the social gathering.

Story: Anthony Agbotsey (Reporter, Health Digest News)