The need to stop smoking has not been greater than now. According to 2009 statistical data from the World Health Organization and Department of Health, approximately 28 percent of Filipinos smoke cigarettes. This translates to about 17 million people, making the Philippines second in the world in the number of smokers.
We also have one of the highest numbers of female smokers.
Your own risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and cancers of the mouth, tongue, lung, and stomach, all increase with smoking. But you are not only poisoning your body when you smoke but also those around you, especially children.
Cigarettes contain 250 different kinds of chemicals including formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, vinyl chloride.
Formaldehyde for example is a chemical used as an embalming agent to preserve dead bodies. Benzene is an industrial chemical found in oil and gasoline. Ammonia is a caustic substance which means it can burn through other materials including skin. Hydrogen cyanide is a poisonous liquid. Arsenic and vinyl chloride used to make hard plastics like PVC pipes are toxins and carcinogens. These and 244 other chemicals are in cigarette smoke.
Second-hand smoke is exhaled smoke from a smoker that other people breathe. It is made up of a mixture of gases and fine particles. This can be smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe tip.
There is also third-hand smoke which is the smell that covers a smoker’s clothing. That, too, still has chemicals that are harmful when inhaled, especially by young children.
Second-hand smoke is harmful to children in many different ways because their lungs are still developing. In children, second-hand smoke causes: ear infections and more likely to need ear tubes, more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory symptoms like coughing, sneezing, and shortness of breath, a greater risk for sudden death syndrome, acute respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
Mothers who are exposed to second-hand smoke while pregnant are more likely to have still births, neonatal deaths, and lower birth weight babies. Babies with lower birth weights are weaker, and have increased risk for many health problems. These babies are also more likely to die from sudden infant death.
With one of the highest numbers of smokers in the world, we cannot ignore this tragic problem.
Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos die each year from health problems related to tobacco use such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
As with every crisis, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The tobacco industry has a lengthy history, deep pockets, and long arms here in the Philippines. We have a national law enacted in 2003 banning tobacco use in public places but judging from the numbers, we need to do more. The Department of Health has tobacco cessation programs. However, due to lack of funding there may not be much support.
We deserve a healthy place to live, and our children a healthy place to play and grow.
Next week, we will discuss some tips on how to quit smoking. Please be kind to your body and to each other.
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Author’s email: floridamsn@safe-mail.net
