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Tobacco use is the most common preventable cause of death, members of the public need to know how smoking affects them and their families so as to prevent tobacco use (reducing initiation and promoting cessation).
RESOURCES FREE
Investing in Tobacco Control is Investing in Cancer Control. A significant component of this investment should be high-quality, collaborative research to provide the evidence base for sound policymaking.
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The tobacco industry damages the environment in many ways, and in ways that go far beyond the effects of the smoke that cigarettes put into the air when they are smoked.
TOBACCO CONTROL: KEY ISSUES
People should be informed about the risks of secondhand smoke and the potential harms of thirdhand smoke. Our largest objective is to dramatically reduce the consumption of combustible cigarettes.
ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT
Governments should strengthen tobacco control programs to prevent tobacco consumption from impoverishing citizens and impeding economic development. Governments should strive to prevent people from starting tobacco use because it is the best way to avoid the consequences tobacco inflicts on human health.
SMOKE FREE ENVIRONMENT: YOUR RIGHT
Parties to the WHO FCTC must comply with their obligations under Article 5.3 to combat overt and covert tobacco industry interference and undue influence, as well as attempts to improve their image and create the appearance of being good corporate citizens.
SPECIAL REPORTS
What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Smoking?
Cancer will kill 10million people in 2018
E-Cigarettes, Tobacco Products Increases Oral Cancer: Study
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NIGERIA: TOBACCO WATCH
Tobacco Watch is a resource portal aimed at helping active citizens, health advocates, researchers and governments in their efforts to enhance tobacco industry accountability in Nigeria. It is managed by a network of like-minded individuals and organisations working towards improving the health of Nigerians by reducing tobacco use in Nigeria.
TOBACCO CONTROL CAMPAIGNS
Mass media campaigns are among the most effective ways to warn about the dangers of tobacco use, to encourage smoking cessation, and to create support for tobacco control policies. For years, the tobacco industry used mass media to its advantage in order to present smoking as an attractive and socially-desirable behavior.
NATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL ACT 2015: KNOW YOUR RIGHT
Smoking in Nigeria is prohibited in public places and is punishable by a fine of not less than N200 and not exceeding N1000 or to imprisonment to a term of not less than one month and not exceeding two years or to both a fine and imprisonment.
Health Effects of SMOKING TOBACCO
Smoking causes more deaths in Nigeria each year than the following causes combined: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Illegal drug use, Alcohol use, Motor vehicle injuries, Firearm-related incidents. Smokers could experience some pretty terrible diseases and health conditions from smoking. Here are some of the most gruesome diseases caused by smoking:
More people die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer. Tobacco smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer; it’s responsible for 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. Chances of smokers of still being alive five years after being diagnosed is less than 1 in 5.
COPD is an obstructive lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. It causes serious long-term disability and early death. COPD starts by making it hard to be active, such as playing with a grandchild, then usually gets worse, until climbing a short set of stairs or even walking to get the mail is exhausting or impossible. It can leave people stuck in their homes, unable to do the things they want or see friends. About 80 percent of all COPD is caused by cigarette smoking. COPD is a serious leading cause of death in Nigeria.
Smoking harms nearly every organ in human body, including the heart. Smoking can cause blockages and narrowing in arteries, which means less blood and oxygen flow to the heart. A decrease in cigarette consumption would mean decrease in the rates of heart disease. Yet, heart disease still remains the number one cause of death in the major countries of the world.
Because smoking affects arteries, it can trigger stroke. A stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is temporarily blocked. Brain cells are deprived of oxygen and start to die. A stroke can cause paralysis, slurred speech, altered brain function and death. Stroke is one of the leading cause of death in Nigeria and a leading cause of adult disability.
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that makes it harder to move air in and out of your lungs—otherwise known as “breathing.” Because cigarette smoke irritates air passages, it can trigger sudden and severe asthma attacks. Asthma is a serious health condition that affects millions of Nigerians. Smoking only makes it worse.
Smoking can cause ectopic pregnancy in women, which is when a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. The egg can’t survive and, if left untreated, can be life-threatening for the mother. Smoking also causes reduced fertility, meaning it makes it more difficult to get pregnant.
So in addition to the escalating costs of buying and smoking your tobacco, add in the cost of tooth whitening. A professional procedure to clean your teeth costs an average of $500 to $1,000
This disrupts the normal hair growth/loss cycle which occurs on a daily basis and results in hair thinning and eventual loss.
This evidence suggests that smoking directly impacts upon this blood supply.
Other suggestions include the fact that smoking affects the immune system which opens the body up to all sorts of diseases and illnesses. And certain diseases damage the hair or cause hair loss.
