World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed on May 31 across the globe in encourage the abstinence of tobacco consumers for a day and spread the awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco consumption on health.
According to the statistical data of World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco consumption leads to the death of 6 million people every year globally and an economic damage of hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide, which shows the epidemics of tobacco consumption. Moreover, tobacco use health issues like such as cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.
Following the adverse and increasing epidemics of tobacco products consumption globally, the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 and is observed every year since then. On the World No Tobacco Day, the WHO and other partners like governments, public health organizations, NGOs unite to highlight the health issue associated with the use of tobacco and tobacco products and advocates creation and implementation effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption worldwide.
Like every year, this year also a theme has been decided for World No Tobacco Day 2013 also, which is: ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. According to the WHO, the theme for WNTD 2013 states that a comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship is required under the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) for all Parties to this treaty within five years of the entry into force of the Convention for that Party.
Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco and tobacco products are some of the major reasons for the increasing consumption of tobacco among people and it is predicted that prohibition of any type of promotional activity of tobacco products can bring about a significant reduction in tobacco use worldwide.
Tobacco use leads to several diseases related to heart and lungs with smoking being the major cause of heart attacks, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), emphysema, and cancer (commonly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). In addition to that, the life expectancy of regular smokers also decreases in comparison to non-smokers.
Overall, tobacco consumption in any form is extremely harmful for health and need to be curbed in order to live a healthy and long live.
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Comments:
John R. Polito
May 31, 2013 at 5:38 PM
Thanks New Track India for your World No Tobacco Day article. It's a golden opportunity to teach smokers and oral tobacco users both why they use and how to quit. While users invent long lists of use explanations, there is really only one. They will smoke, dip, chew, suck or vape that next nicotine fix because they must, because a rising tide of anxieties will begin to hurt if they don't. Their brain dopamine pathways were taken hostage and have assigned the same use priority to using nicotine as they do to eating food. Yes, these are the same dopamine pathways involved in alcoholism onset and addiction to illegal drugs. Receptor activation, saturation and up-regulation, we became real drug addicts.
When quitting there is only one rule, that we cannot cheat this brain circuitry, as it is designed to make activating events nearly impossible in the short term (the time needed for recovery) to forget or ignore. In fact, brain scans show that just one puff and up to half of a smoker's dopamine pathway receptors become occupied by nicotine. While most walk away from trying to cheat when quitting feeling like they have gotten away with it, it isn't long before their brain wanting disorder grows hungry and is again begging for more. Yes, there is only one rule when quitting, it's that we are real drug addicts, that for us one equals all, that one puff, dip, pinch, chew or vape will always be too many, while thousands never enough. Once ready, baby steps, just one day at a time, yes you can!
John R. Polito
Nicotine Cessation Educator
Director WhyQuit