Daily Times

LAHORE: The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) has organised an anti-tobacco poster competition to create awareness among the masses to prevent the ill-effects of smoking on the eve of the World No Tobacco Day, which is observed every year on May 31 across the world.

All major schools from all over Pakistan participated in the contest in which approximately 5,000 entries were received. The Hospital’s MedicalDirector,Dr AsifLoya, distributed shieldsamongst the winners of the competition. Speaking on theoccasion, Dr. Fatima Ajaz, consultant for pulmonary and intensive care,l at SKMCH&RC, said tobacco usage was on the rise among Pakistani youth, which was a very dangerous trend. “We should be careful while using e-cigarettes as these are equally harmful.Developed countries are striving hard to educate its people about the hazards of tobacco use and they have achieved a continuous declining ratio in this regard and their youth have become less prone to tobacco use. But developing countries like Pakistan are facing a surge in usage of tobacco and other toxic drugs among the youth. That is why this year’s campaign theme of World No Tobacco Day is ‘Tobacco – a threat to development’,” she revealed.

SKMCH Consultant Pulmonologist Dr FaheemMahmood Butt said that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than seven million deaths occur from tobacco use every year, a figure that is predicted to grow to more than 8 million a year by 2030 without intensified action. “Tobacco use poses a serious threat to any person, regardless of gender, age, race, cultural and educational background.It is a gradual killer, because there is a lag of several years between when people start using tobacco and when their health suffers.It is a main cause of different type of cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. If we can stop tobacco use, we can prevent millions of lives from these fatal menaces.”

He stated that every sort of tobacco like cigarettes, pipes, water pipes (hookah), paan, gutka and inhaling tobacco, were lethal. “There are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer. And there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. A major cause of lung cancer is use of tobacco and womenindulging inthis habit were more susceptible to breast cancer too.