Every year, 31st May is celebrated as World No Tobacco Day all around the world. This day was initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness about the ill effects of tobacco. 31st May is dedicated to raising awareness about the threats posed by tobacco and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. As per recent reports by the World Health Organization, consuming around 20 cigarettes in one day can lead to decreased life expectancy. A person who consumes these many cigarettes is taking away 13 years of his/ her life. As per statistics, every year around 1.35 million people in India die due to tobacco consumption. Around 23% of people who are addicted to smoking get badly ill or pass away before reaching the age of 65.
As announced by the director of the World Health Organization, this year’s theme is to protect children from interference of the tobacco industry. Dr GC Khilnani, Director of PSRI, stated that this year’s theme is to protect the younger generation of India from getting indulged in the habit of consuming tobacco. This has been chosen as the theme for the year 2024 as these days children are more prone to getting addicted to tobacco. As per the survey, 9 out of 10 children start smoking before the age of 18. Children need to understand the ill effects of tobacco and smoking so that they don’t get addicted to it.
Famous oncologist Dr. Harpreet Singh stated that consumption of tobacco can lead to cancer. Cancer can develop in any form and any organ such as mouth, throat, lungs, pancreas, etc. Chewing tobacco can cause mouth cancer whereas smoking leads to lung cancer. He further added that while people suffer from such problems, still they find it difficult to get rid of this addiction.
To save children from getting addicted to smoking and chewing tobacco you have to stop them to try if for the very first time. As per Dr. Bhavna Barmi, clinical psychologist, children easily get the attraction to things. Especially electronic one like e-cigarettes. It’s important to make your child aware of how bad it is before they try it out of excitement. Various doctors and medical experts are trying their best to find medicines that can prevent lungs from getting damaged due to smoking cigarettes. However, the first step to save yourself would be to quit smoking.