Do something!!!

I finished my youth service a few years ago and it has been difficult getting a job. Out of frustration and tiredness of staying at home, I took up a job as a bar attendant at a local hotel. However, since I started work, it’s been hell for me as I end up inhaling cigarette smoke every day since customers are permitted to smoke indoors. Well, I have always done my best to ignore it and say nothing about it because I work at night and I am there alone with just one other person.

It has gotten to the point now, that the employees that work the shift before I do smoke right before I get there. I have frequent migraines and sinus issues from all of the residue that has been left behind from them smoking and often times some residual smoke from them smoking.

There is a window right in that section and I have asked them repeatedly to please not smoke an hour before I am going to get there and to please leave the window open when they do smoke and to open the window up and air out the corner before I get there. Seems like a simple enough request but they simply will not do it.

Now I am experiencing numerous health consequences of breathing second hand smoke, including headaches, nausea, dizziness, increased asthma, bronchitis, larengal-pharengeal reflux and reactive airway. Not to mention the fact that the place just plain reeks! I am outraged that by virtue of earning a living I am forced to breath "class A" carcinogenic air. I have pleaded with the corporate office, provided them overwhelming evidence that my work environment is not safe and they have turned a blind eye. Leaving this job will mean me going back to being broke, bored and frustrated, I do hope that I get something else real fast.

Andy's (not his real name) story above is a picture of what the workplace can be like Abuja where he is based. As deploring as his story may be, the more shocking fact is that this is a preventable cause. Things do not have to get to a dilapidated stage before we do something about it. I therefore appeal to the general public to join in this campaign to ban smoking in Nigeria. With the Lagos State government recently passing a no-smoking in public places law, it is time for the rest of the states to follow suit. 

Together we can make impact in our generation and save more lives, All you need do is to PARTICIPATE in the TC RADIO CAMPAIGN and INVITE your FRIENDS & FAMILY to do the same as we all join hands in stopping this dilemma before it's too late. To subscribe: Text (TC Name Email Location Message) to 39405 as together we can make the change we desire. You will be shocked how many lives you can save just from this singular act.

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· For more facts and Tobacco Control tips visit www.tobaccoctrl.ng

Don't wait

I grew up in a house of three kids and two smoking parents (chain smokers if I say so). My father smoked two packs a day and my mother smoked one pack a day. I am currently 39 years old and my mother recently passed away at 67 after a long battle with breast cancer, I am yet to recover from this massive loss. She also had thyroid cancer. 

There had been absolutely NO history of breast cancer on her side of the family until she contracted the disease in her fifties, had surgery and chemo, went into remission, and then was rediagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in her liver. My sister, at age 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer the October before my mother's recurrence. She became metastatic within a year and is now 41 years old with three children. 

As a result, I have had a preventative double mastectomy and I believe all of this loss in my immediate family is due to smoking exposure. There is some history on my father's side, however, it does not explain my mother's aggressive disease and premature death. 

As it stands, I will go through the horrific events cancer brings again (this time with my sister) and will be the only female left in my immediate family. My father, at age 75, and my brother, at age 36, and myself will be left without two fabulous women in our lives. I believe smoking and the tobacco industry either created the cancer outright or aggravated a gene in our family as research has suggested.

Without tobacco, my family would have much more time with my sister and my mother. My children would have gotten to know their grandmother better and wouldn't cry and wouldn't have to talk about missing her. I wouldn't have to worry about my sister's kids and neither would she. Please help stop the tobacco industry from destroying families.

More than 8 million lives has been saved since the anti-smoking campaign started in 1964 in US, not counting the effect it has had in other countries; now this is a huge number, although the number of smokers recorded nationwide especially in Bangladesh, Russia, Indonesia and China rose to 1billion, it could have been double this number if the anti-smoking campaign dint take place. 

In as much as these figures are encouraging, it is also not the time to relax and fold our hands, more work needs to be done to ensure that more lives are saved. We therefore need your contribution towards ensuring that the increasing rate of death caused by this preventable cause is brought to a halt.

All you need do is to PARTICIPATE in the TC RADIO CAMPAIGN and INVITE your FRIENDS & FAMILY to do the same as we all join hands in stopping this dilemma before it's too late. To subscribe: Text (TC Name Email Location Message) to 39405 as together we can make the change we desire.

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· For more facts and Tobacco Control tips visit www.tobaccoctrl.ng

PARTICIPATE: Tobacco Control Radio Campaign

Until late in the 20th century, tobacco companies consistently denied any link of their products with cancer or cancer-enhancing tendencies. However, today, the harmful effect of tobacco on smokers and non-smokers alike is well-known with detailed documentation on the impact of secondhand smoke since the 1980's.

Into these category of non-smokers falls a group of people who need SOMEONE to speak for them - CHILDREN as statistics say secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 deaths from lung cancer and tens of thousands of deaths from heart disease to nonsmoking adults in Nigeria each year.

Millions of children are breathing in secondhand smoke almost daily in the one place they should be safe - their homes. The reason for these is adults & in some cases underaged smokers who puff away not heeding the harm being done to our nation's future leaders. Secondhand smoke can be especially harmful to your children's health because their lungs still are developing. If you and anyone who know & permit smokes around your children, they are exposed to secondhand smoke and may be in more danger than you realize. Children whose parents smoke only outside are still exposed to the chemicals in secondhand smoke.

Below is a true life story of the effect secondhand smoke can have on a child;

My ex-husband and I divorced when our son was 1 year old. At that time, smoking was not allowed in our home and my son's health was fine. Once we divorced, his father resumed smoking and that's when the trouble with my son's ears started. My son is 3 years old now and on his second set of ear tubes and has had his annoides removed. My son gets sick whenever he goes to his dad's- he always comes back with ear infections. (Besides his dad who smokes, there are also 3 other people living in the home who smoke too) My son has mild hearing loss in the left ear. I know it is the smoking. The solid proof that proved it, was this past October. Oct. 23 my son had a hearing test and the tubes were open and clear, then on November 2nd he went to his dad's for a week. On Nov. 13 was his next hearing test and it came back saying that both ears were flat and his next test said he had fluid in his ears again.

Because young children can't choose to leave a smoke-filled environment, this constant exposure makes them especially vulnerable to the health risks of secondhand smoke. Infants and children who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased chance of developing the following conditions:

• Frequent colds and respiratory infections (including bronchitis and pneumonia)
• May experience slow or incomplete lung growth and development
• Asthma and chronic coughs
• Chronic and/or recurrent ear infections
• SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
• High blood pressure
• Learning and behavior problems, including inattention and aggression.
• Cataracts
• Poor dental health
• Increased likelihood that the children themselves will become smokers

As adults today, it is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to ensure a smoke-free environment is a LEGACY we bequeath to our children. This is why we ask YOU to participate in the TC RADIO CAMPAIGN and INVITE your FRIENDS & FAMILY to do the same as we all join hands in stopping this dilemma before it's too late. To subscribe: Text (TC Name Email Location Message) to 39405 as together we can make the change we desire.

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl on Twitter  and tweet at us using the #TCRadio hashtag

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· For more facts and Tobacco Control tips visit www.tobaccoctrl.ng

No More!

On 26 December 2003 my dad passed away due to a 13 year battle with COPD/Emphysema. My dad had smoked since he had been a young boy, but quit immediately when he was diagnosed with COPD. Unfortunately it was too late and his lungs were already damaged. I grew up breathing in secondhand smoke, but at the time, there was not information out discussing the dangers of secondhand smoke.

I am in my mid 40's. Everyone smoked either cigarettes, cigars or pipes when I was young. My dad smoked pipes and cigars all day long, inside and outdoors. One was burning all the time even when he wasn't puffing on it. Our house smelled like smoke - and our car smelled like smoke. People's clothes smelled like smoke - even the ones who didn't smoke smelled like smoke. People smoked at work and in restaurants and in the waiting rooms of almost everywhere. So it was normal to smell smoke. We thought nothing of it. I even sang along with them on this popular song:

"SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE THAT CIGARETTE - PUFF PUFF PUFF UNTIL YOU PUFF YOURSELF TO DEATH. THEN TELL PETER AT THE GOLDEN GATE THAT HE WILL HAVE TO WAIT - CAUSE YOU GOTTA HAVE ANOTHER CIGARETTE."

And it still didn't dawn on us what we were doing. Smoking was thought to be glamorous for women and masculine for men because of the movies and the advertising. All my older siblings smoked. 

What happened to everyone? My mother died of lung cancer (though she never smoked anything but due to the inhaling of cigarette from everyone’s smoking.) My brother died of a heart attack. My sister died of lung disease. My last sister has emphysema & is on oxygen but wasting away - now weighs 65 pounds.

I would have to say smoking leads to nothing constructive for anyone except for a pain relief puff on a marajuana when dying of cancer. My dying sister told me the other day that smoking is the worst possible addiction anyone could imagine. She says you are hooked almost instantly and no rational discussion could make you quit. She only quit when she couldn't breathe. But she said she knows of lots of people who can't even quit when the doctor puts them on oxygen.

There is no rational reason to allow smoking where anyone other than smokers will breathe that smoke. It is horrible. I have been with 2 of my relatives as they have died of lung disease and it is a miserable way to go.

I implore you to participate and subscribe to Tobaccoctrl SMS platform and also participate actively in the radio campaign, don’t forget to invite your friends and family. To subscribe;

Text (TC Name Email Location Message) to 39405. Together we can make the change we desire.

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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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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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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

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.

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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.

Action speaks louder...

If you ask a number of people who smoke i.e. teenagers and adults, it is amazing how many, out of ignorance think that there are no effects of smoking on their bodies until they reach middle age. However, the many serious & harmful effects of smoking occur much sooner than we think. In fact, smoking has numerous immediate health effects on the brain and on the respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immune and metabolic systems. While these immediate effects do not all produce noticeable symptoms, most begin to damage the body with the first cigarette sometimes irreversibly – and rapidly produce serious medical conditions and health consequences.

As recent studies show a marked increase in the global number of smokers with developing countries providing the bulk of these smokers, the time to ACT by putting in place comprehensive tobacco-use legislation is NOW!.

In this post, we would like to briefly review certain tobacco control policy acts in the 21st century, with focus on the impact of specific interventions on tobacco use in four countries.

Russia
On June 1, 2013, Russia banned smoking in public areas - airports and train stations, schools and hospitals, among other public spots. Tobacco ads were also vanished from streets and as such won’t be featured in Russian movies. It was reported that after this move, half of its citizens that smoked actually stopped and an estimated 200,000 deaths annually will be prevented owing to the new legislation being enforced.

Ireland

Was the first nation to introduce a country-wide workplace smoking ban in March 2004 on smoking in enclosed workplaces. This new ban was built onto the 1988 sanctions against cigarette smoking in many public buildings and on transportation systems. Since then, other members of the European Union have followed Ireland's good example leading to strong anti-tobacco laws in place across Europe with proper enforcement taking place.

It was recorded in 2005 that the number of people with respiratory issues dropped by 17% with 80% of smokers saying that the ban encouraged them to quit smoking. New research on the effect of the 2004 legislation has found double-digit drops in heart disease and strokes rates.

Meanwhile in a radical move, further legislation banning smoking in private or commercial vehicles carrying children cars has been introduced. Arguing this is a human rights issue, the Children's Health Protection bill was enacted in January and came into force in July 2013.

India
While legislation to ban smoking was passed in 2003, the guidelines were not solidified until Oct. 2, 2008, which incidentally is the birthday of nonsmoker & global icon Mohandas Gandhi. At the time, India was home to 120 million smokers — 900,000 of whom were dying each year from tobacco-related illnesses — and earlier efforts to curb the habit had proved ineffective owing to inconsistent enforcement.

In 2007, strong advocacy campaigns by civil society groups was key in pushing for the implementation of the 2003 Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) in Chandigarh. Working with the local administration, Chandigarh became India's first smoke-free city via active enforcement of existing laws so they are not just 'paper laws'.

Since then, over fifteen other cities like Chennai and including popular hill resort, Shimla have attained the smoke-free status. In July 2013, Himachal Pradesh became the first 'smoke-free' state in India. For the 2013-14 budget, the state has doubled taxes on tobacco products and imposed VAT as well to discourage sales.

U.S.
Like the majority of the world, the U.S. does not have a nationwide smoking ban. However, local and state authorities legislate tobacco use in their domain. Therefore to protect minors, the tobacco-use age limit is set at 18years as the statistics show a higher percentage of citizens who smoke are between the ages of 18 to 24.

In 2013, New York City & Hawaii County introduced new measures raising the tobacco-use age to 21years. Legislatures in three other states Vermont, Maryland, Utah had introduced similar measure while these measures are also currently under consideration by lawmakers in Colorado, Texas, Hawaii, New Jersey, Oregon, New York and Washington, D.C.

Schools like George Washington University have further gone to earmark a ban on smoking within 25 ft. of all university-owned public spaces towards achieving a smoke-free zone.

........................................................................................................................................

The recent move by the lawmakers in Lagos state passing a law prohibiting smoking in public places in the state is commendable. As the nation's economic hub, leading the fight in such a critical matter of public health & safety is vital to sustaining the health of her working population. However, similar initiatives need to be brought to fruition across the other thirty-five states while enforcing these laws is essential for the attainment of a smoke-free Nigeria. This is because ACTION speaks louder than WORDS as this is the best medium to see concrete improvement in controlling the use of tobacco and its products in the country. 

Ongoing efforts in the National Assembly on tobacco control laws need to be consolidated with the proper laws passed at legislative & executive levels without delay. This is crucial to Nigeria's economic well-being and the health of all her citizens.

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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8million lives is no joke

Smoking has been one of the major issues that has occupied the minds of the medical profession for the past four decades. Until the 1960s, there was no clearly detailed understanding alerting the nations of the consequences of smoking on the lives of individuals, and its impact on society as a whole. This in return has transformed the issue from one of individual and consumer choice, to one of epidemiology, public health, and risk for smokers and non-smokers alike.

More than 8 million lives has been saved since the anti-smoking campaign started in 1964 in US, not counting the effect it has had in other countries. Now this is a huge number as it shows an average of 160 000 lives per year over the fifty years in review. This is in contrast to the number of smokers recorded nationwide in some countries especially Bangladesh, Russia, Indonesia and China helping increase the global population of people who smoke to close 1billion in 2012. Perhaps it could have been double this number if anti-smoking campaigns did not take place recording significant success stories in different continents across the globe.

According to a number of studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the anti-smoking measures implemented in the U.S. following the 1964 report from then-Surgeon General Luther Terry that outlined the deadly consequences of tobacco consumption, has managed to save nearly 8 million of lives and a total of 157 million years of life. Terry’s report, which called for stringent measures to curb smoking habits among people, had sparked a massive campaign aided by tax increases, smoking restrictions and bans in public places among other measures. 

It is encouraging to know that there has been a steady progress over the past century, as now, a 40-year-old man can expect on average to live 7.8 years longer than he would have in 1964, and 30 percent of that improvement can be attributed to tobacco control. The gains for women have been slightly less, 5.4 years, but tobacco control accounts for 29 percent of that benefit," stated Theodore R. Holford, the lead author of the study.

Although there were increases in number of cigarettes consumed and global number of smokers over the past five decades, the researchers noted that global smoking prevalence and the number of smokers in proportion to the total population has declined.

While these countries celebrate this achievement, it is disturbing to know that the number of people who smoke in developing countries like Nigeria and other low and middle-income countries has increased over time, offsetting the progress made in countries such as the U.S., Canada, Iceland and Mexico, where smoking prevalence has decreased by nearly 50 percent.

  

As the overall number of smokers worldwide is still rising, this study shows how important it is for all countries to implement a range of tobacco control measures to curb the terrible and yet deadly toll of tobacco-related illness and death.

Therefore we urge all Nigerians at home and abroad to support our cause and join us in making this strong appeal for both chambers of the National Assembly to pass comprehensive tobacco control legislation that is enforced across the country NOW that the President signs into law speedily!

JOIN US TODAY by following us on twitter, adding your voice by visiting our facebook page, like our post, drop your comments and share widely with others. 

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Letting the numbers speak

A look at the number of people who smoke globally showed from 1980 to 2012 a drop from 26 percent to 18.7 percent. This was part of the findings in a study recently conducted by the University of Washington who undertook a detailed analysis of the impact of the presence or lack of tobacco control legislation across 182 countries.

It is therefore astonishing that while there is a drop in global rate of smokers, the actual number of smokers worldwide alongside the sheer number of cigarettes consumed are at an all time high. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the number of cigarettes smoked globally from 1980 to 2012 has jumped from 5trillion to 6.25trillion, an increase of  about 25 percent. 

In 1980, the number of adults who smoked daily was 721million worldwide whereas in 2012, the number of adults who smoked daily was 967.3 million people with the average daily smoking habit per user staying at eighteen cigarettes over the period in view. This is owing largely to the significant increase in the number of smokers in developing countries despite remarkable reductions in smoking numbers from developed countries.

However, there are models to follow amongst the community of developing countries when it comes to achieving success stories concerning the use of tobacco and its products. Two of these are Mexico and Uruguay. For example, since 1980, the smoking rate in Mexico has fallen faster than in the US as they have a policy in place requiring graphic warning labels be displayed on all cigarette packages. The study shows a current 10% smoking level in Mexico which 5 percent less than that of the US and Canada for instance.

Uruguay was the first country to adopt certain elements of WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This saw the introduction of higher cigarette taxes and restrictions on advertising that has brought dramatic results witnessing a 25 percent drop in just three years of smoking rates across the country.

This means that Mexico and Uruguay for instance, can divert both personal and national funds that would been spent on any tobacco-related deaths to other areas of need. This is instructive as the healthcare costs associated with tobacco use are simply enormous. 440,000 deaths arise from smoking in the US with associated health costs about $193billion. This means an average of almost $440000 is spent per smoke-related death. A number developing countries surely, cannot afford.

This suggests that its a matter of urgency for countries like Nigeria to take appropriate steps NOW to mitigate the impact of smoking on the health of her citizens over the next fifty years as a smoking lifestyle affects not just the smoker but others around them. One of such interventions is the need for increased public awareness and campaigns targeted at getting smokers to understand & map their choices with health challenges for their friends and family.

However, the most critical step to begin to see us write our own success story on tobacco control must be the WILL to first enact correct legislation regarding the use of tobacco and its products that is thereafter, enforced properly at local, state & federal levels. 

Research has shown that the economic growth of any country is closely linked to healthy well-being of her citizens. This is not a myth and accepting that healthcare rights are fundamental must be a key priority of any government since allows us as a society to maximise the productivity lifespan of each citizen.

For tobacco use in Nigeria, it is evident beyond any doubt we CANNOT afford to stand on our hands and fail to act. That action begins with the National Assembly enacting the right legislation to protect and prevent the future generations of Nigerians so we can help make our country a SMOKE-FREE zone!

To 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. 

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