SAM Daily Times

Half of the Pakistani smokers may die of tobacco diseases

About 25 million people in Pakistan smoke and according to an estimate about half of them will die of tobacco related diseases, said Dr Syed Hussain Askary, Head of Dental Public Health, Director Academics & Administration, Fatima Jinnah Dental College (FJDC).

According to World Health Organization, globally 5.4 million deaths are caused every year due to tobacco use and by 2030 there will be more than 8 million deaths every year. Unfortunately, 80% of these deaths will be in developing countries like Pakistan.

FJDC observed Tobacco Control Week to marked World No Tobacco Day, which is celebrated globally every year on May 31. The inaugural seminar was arranged on May 30 at Fatima Jinnah Dental Hospital.

Leaders and experts in the field presented lasted research & information and provided training to over 1000 attendees. The seminar highlighted that tobacco use leads to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attack, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and cancer, particularly lung cancer, cancers of lungs and mouth and pancreatic

cancer.

Dentists have special advantages in tobacco prevention and cessation, as they build patient interest in tobacco cessation by showing the actual tobacco effects in the mouth and give advice on the health

effects of tobacco and usually succeed in preventing it at an early stage. 

It is also the number of cause of bladder cancer. The high prevalence of oral cancer has been linked to tobacco use, particularly in conjunction with chewing betel quid (paan and guthka).