World No Tobacco Part 1

World No Tobacco Day 2022: Protect The Environment!

May 31 is observed globally as “World No Tobacco Day” to create awareness against the ill effects of tobacco consumption and motivate people to commit to quitting the habit. The theme for 2022 celebrations is “Protect The Environment”. The theme aims to raise public awareness about the environmental impact of the entire tobacco cycle.

Tobacco consumption leads to health complications such as respiratory infections, mouth cancer, etc. However, according to studies, it may also impact one’s social and mental life. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 65% of the world’s population is covered by at least one comprehensive tobacco control measure. On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, let’s take a look at why quitting tobacco is important for good health and India’s effort at tackling the issue.

About World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organisation in 1987 introduced World No Tobacco Day to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and inform the public about the dangers of using tobacco. In 1987, the World Health Assembly passed a Resolution calling for April 7, 1988, to be “a world no-smoking day.” In 1988, another resolution was passed that called for celebrating World No Tobacco Day, every year on May 31.

Environment and Tobacco

The harmful impact of the tobacco industry on the environment is huge. According to WHO, it adds unnecessary pressure to our planet’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems. According to it, the tobacco industry has an annual greenhouse gas contribution of 84 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent. It contributes to climate change and reduces climate resilience.

Further, around 3.5 million hectares of land are destroyed for tobacco growing each year. Growing tobacco contributes to deforestation, especially in the developing world.

The campaign calls on governments and policymakers to step up legislation, including implementing and strengthening existing schemes to make producers responsible for the environmental and economic costs of tobacco product waste.

Youth and tobacco

Youth are the most vulnerable population group that gets exposed to tobacco consumption. They are prone to get influenced by peer pressure, advertisements, and promotional activities.

According to WHO, a vast majority of smokers begin using tobacco products well before the age of 18 years. It was also predicted that if the pattern seen nowadays continued, a lifetime of tobacco use would result in the deaths of 250 million children and young people alive today, most of them in developing countries.

It has cited reasons such as cultural and religious norms, availability of different types of tobacco products, tobacco control policies, and strategies, tobacco industry behavior, advertising, promotion, and marketing as some of the reason which determines tobacco use among the youth.

Ill effects of tobacco consumption

In India, people consume tobacco in different forms- bidis, cigarettes, and dry tobacco leaves. It is responsible for about 3,500 daily deaths in the country. It is a major risk factor for cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes, chronic lung disease, stroke, infertility, blindness, tuberculosis (TB), oral cavity, etc.

Moreover, 50% of cancers in males and 20% cancers in females; 40% of TB and other related diseases are caused due to tobacco use.

India’s effort to beat tobacco consumption

India has framed laws and guidelines to help its citizens give up tobacco consumption. It has taken various initiatives in this direction too.