WHO celebrates World No Tabacco Day • Smoking beyond 20 years increases risks exponentially, according to the World Health Organization

A study conducted by the World Health Organization revealed that smokers who quit by their early 30s avoid the risk of premature death, as the international organization renewed its call during the World No Tobacco Day Celebration yesterday.

According to a statement released by WHO, smokers’ risks of lung cancer are related both to how heavily they smoke and, in particular, how long they have been smokers.

“The risk incurred from 20 years of smoking is not great, but it increases exponentially with each additional year beyond that,” WHO said.

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of WHO, has urged smokers to take a giant step towards better health by quitting smoking.

Brundtland noted that a recent survey in a large developing country revealed that two-thirds of smokers mistakenly believe that smoking does little or no harm; few are interested in quitting, and fewer still have successfully quit.

Among the individual benefits gained from quitting smoking include improved health, better taste of food, improve sense of smell, money savings, better self-esteem and clear smelling breath, home and car.

WHO added that intervention efforts that stop smoking can decrease the burden of diseases such as heart, pulmonary and respiratory diseases and cancers.

There are more than 25 tobacco-related diseases known today which include shortness of breath, increased heart rate, exacerbation of asthma, impotence, infertility and increased serum carbon monoxide.

Long-term health risks of smoking, the major contributors to morbidity and mortality, include heart attacks and strokes, lung and other cancers (larynx, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, bladder, cervix, leukemia and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (chronic bronchitis and emphysema), WHO added.

The health organization warned that individuals who are surrounding the smokers can be harmed by tobacco smoke. Specifically, breathing in other people’s smoke has been shown to cause sudden infant death, respiratory illness and middle ear disease in babies and children, and lung cancer and heart disease in adults. Furthermore, children are put further at risk because smoking by their parents increase the likelihood that they themselves will in time take up smoking. (Lindablue F. Romero)