Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Nigerian Situation



Despite worldwide concerted efforts by governments and other Non-State Actors, Nigeria remains amongst the community of nations that have expressed concerns but done little to tackle or curb the blooming epidemic of smoking. In Nigeria, the indulgent attitude of individuals that smoke coupled with their ignorance of the potential dangers has not helped situation. Most people smoke not knowing the implications of what they are doing to their health and others around. This is not peculiar to just males, but females as well. 

There was a time when it was a taboo for females to hold cigarette not to talk of smoking them, but this days its becoming the norm with female actresses smoking in our home videos thus glamorizing the habit and encouraging more females to smoke. This is an antisocial act that calls for urgent action as it negates the efforts of the governments and concerned peoples of Nigeria to nip smoking in the bud.

Smoking, a habit, which at one time was considered fashionable and acceptable has been proven after many years of study to have linkages with many ailments hence it is as deadly as the scorpion sting. Smoking is a universal problem, which though may have peculiar geographical approaches in terms of solutions, yet remains one with the need for a collective global resolve in tackling. To date, no nation has ever admitted benefiting economically from smoking and we see numerous efforts made by nations across the globe to deal with this man-made monster.

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide".

For Nigeria, the implication of unrestricted smoking environment is ominous as tobacco-related ailments take about 20 years to manifest. Thus the government should anticipate a huge epidemic of tobacco-related diseases in the coming years. The resultant strain on public healthcare would be enormous as the majority of these smokers are poor people who have no means to access treatment themselves. They will depend on the government to bear the cost. The most effective way to curb this epidemic is to totally ban it in all states of the federation.

To further reinforce this view, let us consider the following facts about smoking:

From the GAT Survey, Tobacco Use In 2012 saw 5.6% (4.7 million) Nigerian adults aged 15 years or older use tobacco products with a breakdown of 10.0% (4.2 million) of men and 1.1% (0.5 million) of women. Overall, 3.9% (3.1 million) of adults (7.3% of men and 0.4% of women) currently smoked tobacco, and 3.7% (3.1 million) of adults (7.2% of men and 0.3% of women) currently smoked cigarettes.

2.9% of adults (2.4 million) were daily smokers (5.6% of men, 0.3% of women) while 0.9% (0.8 million) were occasional smokers (1.8% of men and 0.1% of women). Daily cigarette smokers smoked an average of 8 cigarettes per day; 7 cigarettes per day in urban areas and 9 cigarettes per day in rural areas.

More than 60% of 20 to 34 year old males who had ever smoked on a daily basis started smoking daily before the age of 20 years. More than half of all current daily tobacco users (55.3%) have their first tobacco use of the day within 30 minutes of waking up. Smokeless tobacco products were used by 1.9% of adults (1.6 million) (2.9% of men and 0.9% of women). By region, South East has a higher percentage of smokeless tobacco users compared to other regions in Nigeria.

The good news is that together we can stop this epidemic from invading our territory. Join us in making this strong appeal for the National Assembly to pass comprehensive tobacco control legislation bill, follow us on twitter, add your voice by visiting our facebook page, like our post, drop your comments and share widely with others. Together we can make the change that we all desire.

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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Stop Smoking!



Smoking-related disease is snatching beloved family members and friends away from us at an alarming rate. The diseases caused as a result of smoking is disheartening and the picture emerging is quite gloomy as recent reports state we are witnessing a global surge in cancer incidents with smoking as one of the three leading causes. According to the World Health Organization, smoking related-diseases kill 1 in 10 adults globally, causing four million deaths a year.

Below is a true life story told by a victim;

Bob started smoking when he was at the university. According to him, I started smoking because my friends smoked and I wanted to fit in, I had just entered the University and so wanted to make friends, little did I know that this was going to be the beginning of a regrettable effect to my health.

 Bob lives in Nigeria and schooled at the famous University in the eastern part of Nigeria ESUT (Enugu State University of Science and Technology) where students would congregate regularly to smoke and will go as far as stealing each other’s cigarettes just to satisfy their carvings. Bob smoked for more than 15years, although he tried several times to stop. He would quit smoking for a while and then find himself smoking again. Like he said, it was difficult to stop because I had my friends and some members of my family smoking around me, so I would always find myself going back to my vomit.

In 2013, in his late thirties, Bob was diagnosed with a heart disease called Atherosclerosis, a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up in your arteries, this can also cause a breathing problem, Bob had to be flown to India for a major operation and to receive some major treatment, Bod is another life we could have lost to a preventable cause such as tobacco. No one had to convince Bob to stop smoking; he has quit smoking and is proudly clean.

You don’t have to wait till your condition is worse for wear before quitting. It’s a known fact that smoking kills. Most smokers are not aware that tobacco contains chemicals which can harm their blood cells and damage the function of their heart. This damage increases your risk for:
  • Atherosclerosis: a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up in your arteries
  • Aneurysms: which are bulging blood vessels that can burst and cause death
  • Coronary heart disease (CHD): which happens when plaque builds up in the arteries
  • Heart attack and damage to your arteries
  • Heart disease
  • Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a condition in which plaque builds up in the arteries that carry blood to the head, organs, and limbs
  • Stroke: which is sudden death of brain cells caused by blood clots or bleeding
Breathing tobacco smoke can even change your blood chemistry and damage your blood vessels. As you inhale smoke, cells that line your body’s blood vessels react to its chemicals. Your heart rate and blood pressure go up and your blood vessels thicken and narrow.

Lets prevent this dilemma from spreading more than it should, as together we can save more lives. Join us in making this strong appeal for the National Assembly to pass comprehensive tobacco control legislation bill, follow us on twitter, add your voice by visiting our facebook page, like our post, drop your comments and share widely with others. Together we can make the change that we all desire.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Tonte died last night




The early morning phone call message was short and direct: "Tonte died last night:"

I have been a family physician for more than 50years now and taking night calls has become a pattern for me, calls waking me up from sleep has become part of my practice especially the tragic news such as telling me that; my special patient is dying or has died. As sad as it sounds, one gets too familiar to such conversation and should I say used to it after 50years. However the unique circumstance of my early morning “Tonte Died Last night” call, stands out as one of the most unexpected.
Who was Tonte? Who called me with the death message? Why was it especially memorable?
 
Tonte was a dedicated bar attendant in one of the popular lounges in Abuja, she was so dedicated and hardworking. Unfortunately, the lounge owner who deeply respected Tonte, “thought the world of her” but did not think highly enough about protecting her health. He thought that smoking customers could not be denied opportunity to pollute the indoor air for employees and other patrons.

As a result Tonte as an employee sometimes choked up from breathing smoke. This caused her to prop open the outside door to let smoke out and plead with her smoking customers near the bar area to please move to the other side of the room. Tonte, who couldn't afford to foot hospital bills, was simply issued a bronchodilator inhaler by her bar supervisor and advised to take some extra puffs on her inhaler whenever she choked up from smoke exposure.

On the night Tonte died, she had propped open the outside door hoping to let smoke out, moved several smokers to the other side of the room and took extra puffs on her inhaler. Despite this, Tonte was still struggling to breathe, so she decided to go home early, get away from the smoke, relax, and rest up. She assured bar/lounge co-workers that with some extra rest at home, she would be fine, and be able to arrive safely the following working day.

However she didn't arrive at her work place the next day. To the concern of her colleagues and devoted friends who restlessly waited for their beloved’s arrival, she was a no-show. In fact by mid-morning when she had not showed up, and hadn't called in sick, the supervisor felt very concerned. He hastily drove to Tonte's home. The door was locked. There was no answer to the doorbell. Security staff were called to help pry open the door. Their worst fears were realized. There lying dead on the floor was Tonte. She had completely choked up at home and stopped breathing before she could even call anyone for help.

Who surprised me as the early morning sad news messenger of "Tonte Died Last Night," It was the leader of the so called "Quint Bar Owners" group who in obvious emotional distress called to tell me. This man had been the opposition leader against smoke-free bars/lounges. As a further surprise invitation in his emotional call to me, he and the Tempe Bar/Lounge owner as former opponents of our second hand smoke-free environment law totally switched sides after Tonte died from her workplace smoke exposure.

At the touching & widely-attended Memorial Service, the owner, Mr D, greeted me emotionally, as "Doctor Smoke-Free" and with his distraught wife as witness, pledged a special memorial to Tonte's life and her preventable early death. He pledged that henceforth there would be absolutely no more smoke exposure for any employee ever again inside his bar. He said that he deeply regretted that it took Tonte's death to make him painfully aware of something that he had totally neglected: The need for protecting the health and life of his precious employees.

Unfortunately, this story you are just read is one that resonates with too many people across the length & breadth of the country as the current situation fails to protect citizens at their workplace from Second-Hand Smoke due to tobacco use.

Join us in making this strong appeal for the National Assembly to pass this bill, follow us on twitter, add your voice by visiting our facebook page, like our post, drop your comments and share widely with others. Together we can make the change that we all desire.

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NOTE
Tonte died last night is a fictitious human angle story. All characters are creations of the author entirely and bear no semblance to known persons


Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Jide's SHS Story



Jide is working for a leading consultancy in Lagos with great prospects for career progression. Infact, Mr. B, his boss has taken him under his wings and is determined to help him become the best he can be. Jide is happy to work for such a seasoned professional and looks back at the days when after NYSC, job hunting took him to the nooks & corners of the city seeking the golden fleece. He is thankful for the opportunity and knows it is a dream come true. That is why he will not allow anything including ill health stop him from giving his best as he cannot afford to disappoint his benefactor. He would have to literally be unable to move before he misses one day of work as he not only loves his job and has without fail showed up daily for the past five years.

Now, Jide is getting married to his lady, Edidong who he met two years back in the course of one of their work at a client site. Content he has made the right choice, he is looking forward to their wedding scheduled for March 2014. On a bright & sunny day, Jide wakes up and cannot get out of bed. He wonders what's happening since he was perfectly fine though come to think of it, has been experiencing some intermittent chest pains for a while now. Since his office also provided good health cover, he decided to do a quick check thinking it will be just a visit only to hear Dr. Emeka say he is to be admitted for close monitoring.

Two days after, Dr. Emeka comes into Jide's private room paid for by the office and he wears a sad look. Jide assumes it must be some other case of his that is bogging him since he is expecting the good doctor to say 'you have been discharged'. Edidong is by his bedside too and they both looking expectantly, wait for the Dr. Emeka to speak. Clearing his throat, he begins to ask a series of routine questions like do you smoke?, do you drink alcohol?, when was your last HIV test? Jide is getting upset with the line of questions and snaps 'Doc, you've got my medical history so why all these questions?.' Dr Emeka gazes at him and after an uncomfortable silence says 'I don't want to shock you but you have got cancer of the lungs'.

What! Jide exclaims. That is impossible. Turning to Edidong, he seeks clarification. How can this be? Dr. Emeka speaks further the further tests I ordered two days ago just can in and this is the prognosis. Now, we have to decide on a course of action. Jide not willing to let matters slide states to the good doctor, there must be an error with the result. Dr. Emeka with a sober countenance says he had the lab doing the test thrice.
Edidong speaks for the first time to Dr. Emeka 'Are you sure, doctor?' What is the cause of this? Smoking came the reply. Now, Jide is baffled. I have never smoked once in the my life so, there must be a mistake here. Surely, there is a mix-up somewhere.

Speaking further, Dr. Emeka replies if you don't smoke, do you have people around you either now or in the past who do regularly? Jide is quick to answer NO! then he pauses deep in thought. For you see, his beloved mentor, Mr. B is a die-hard smoker and cannot be separated from his cigarettes. What about his dad who while he loved dearly till he died but was also addicted to smoking. Surely, they were the ones smoking & not him so what is the connection? SHS came the doctor's reply.

Quite a number of us are aware of the dangers of smoking on our body but few of us know of the extended impact smoking carries through SHS on people who are not smokers but are exposed to cigarette smoke and thus, inhale it as other folks around them puff away either in the workplace, at home, in school or elsewhere.

So, you see, while smoking is a lifestyle choice. One person's choice has been proven to no longer affect just him/her as when it comes to smoking, the field of influence is anybody & everybody around the smoking zone.

Therefore, it is critical that you & I support the Tobacco Control cause that has implications for all of us. Lets take a big step towards preserving the lives of Nigerian citizens TODAY  as we urge the National assembly to follow suit by assenting to the pending National Tobacco (Control) Bill passed since 2011.

Join us in making this strong appeal for the National Assembly to pass this bill, follow us on twitter, add your voice by visiting our facebook page, like our post, drop your comments and share widely with others. Together we can make the change that we all desire.

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl
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NOTE
Jide's SHS story is a fictitous human angle story. All characters are creation's of the author entirely and bear no semblance to known persons.