Tobacco deaths
TOBACCO is responsible for 20 per cent of deaths from coronary heart disease.
Do you know that every year, 1.9 million people die from tobaccoinduced heart disease, according to a new brief released on September 22, 2020 by the World Health Organization, World Heart Federation and the University of Newcastle Australia ahead of World Heart Day, marked on 29 September?
This equates to one in five of all deaths from heart disease, warns the report’s authors, who urge all tobacco users to quit and avoid a heart attack, stressing that smokers are more likely to experience an acute cardiovascular event at a younger age than non-smokers.
Just a few cigarettes a day, occasional smoking, or exposure to second-hand smoke increase the risk of heart disease. But if tobacco users take immediate action and quit, then their risk of heart disease will decrease by 50 per cent after one year of not smoking.
Moreover, high blood pressure and heart disease increase the risk of severe COVID-19. A recent WHO survey found that among people dying of COVID-19 in Italy, 67 per cent had high blood pressure and in Spain 43 per cent of people who developed COVID-19 were living with heart disease.
Our governments have a responsibility to protect the health of its people and help reverse the tobacco epidemic. All school compounds including teachers’ quarters should be declared smoke-free zones if we want to set good examples to our children.
Tobacco control is a key element for reducing heart disease. Governments can help tobacco users quit by increasing tax on tobacco products, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising and offering services to help people give up tobacco.
JIOJI MASIVESI
Tadra, Votualevu, Nadi