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NT Bureau
Chennai, May 30:

        May 31 is 'No Tobacco Day' as concerted efforts are being made on this day to create awareness on the ill-effects of smoking, said Dr Dr R Narasimhan, chairman, Respiratory Research Foundation of India and Senior Respiratory Physician, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, during a programme held in Chennai yesterday.

        Narasimhan said that although 'No Tobacco Day' and World COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) days are remembered every year, the problem of smoking is still a reality. Tobacco is well trenched into the modern culture worldwide. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and a crucial cash crop in an agricultural economy, he added.

        Sale of tobacco products employs many people which implies that it is an employment potential for many. So if one has to shun tobacco he has to cross many hurdles. But these hurdles are worth crossing because this would improve one's health drastically, he said. He said that every puff of cigarette is a syringe that contains 4,000 chemicals and 40 cancer- producing substances. He also said that there are 90 deaths every hour, 2,200 deaths every day and 800 deaths due to use of tobacco. In India, there were 8.4 crore users of beedies, four crore users of cigarattes and six crore gutkha and zarda users are living, he added.

        Direct medical cost on treating smoking related diseases like heat attacks, lung cancers and various other lung diseases is about Rs 27,761 crore and indirect costs like losing a person due to illness, work absence are not taken into account he said. He further said that 83 per cent of COPD is associated with smoking. Keeping all these facts in mind smoking should not be considered as a habit but a disease and this disease causes problems not only to smokers but also to their family members and others around them in the form of passive smoking, he added.

        He said awareness is to be created in schools. The sad part is that many want to quit smoking but are not able to do that because of various reasons, he added. The help has to be both psychological and physical in this regard, he added. He said that it was never too late to quit smoking and the benefits of quitting smoking starts immediately once it is stopped. So, make a vow, stop puffing.