“Health is like money. You never know the value of it until you lose it.”-Josh Billings

World Health Organization observes ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31st every year. The campaign increases awareness on the negative impact that tobacco has on people’s lung health, from cancer to chronic respiratory disease, the fundamental role lungs play for the health and well-being of all people. The campaign also serves as a call to action, advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption and engaging stakeholders across multiple sectors in the fight for tobacco control.

 If you are wondering what tobacco is, well, tobacco is the common name of several plants in the Nicotiana genus and the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of the tobacco plant. And tobacco is not much safe as it seems. Tobacco is labelled as the world's single greatest preventable cause of death. Surprising? But dig into the facts more. Tobacco use is a cause or risk factor for many diseases ranging from those affecting the heart, liver, and lungs to different types of cancer and it does affect most of your body parts too. Reports estimate that this year in 2020, tobacco will kill more than five million people and that is more than the number of people getting killed due to tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs and malaria combined. By 2030, the death toll will exceed eight million a year. But guess what? Tobacco doesn’t only have an impact on the smokers but also to people who have been exposed to the smoke. Hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by breathing second – hand tobacco smoke.

According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute: "Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. Among the 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 69 can cause cancer.”

Yes, smoking tobacco may give some stress relief, but the impact it has on human health is dangerous. There are many options other than narcotics to relieve stress. Rather than taking it on tobacco and other harmful sedatives to relieve stress, go out there and see the beautiful side of the world and talk to people who you can rely on or listen to music, it is a much better stress reliever.

Tobacco is taking millions of life away each year and we still don’t understand the depth of the situation and still use them. So on this World Tobacco Day, let us do our part of spreading awareness about the unsafe use of tobacco and make sure the future generations of our species live healthy and peacefully.

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