1 May
World No Tobacco Day
The World Health Organisation’s World No Tobacco Day is every year on 31st May. It was created to bring awareness to more people about the dangers and health risks of smoking tobacco, and ultimately, to stop use of tobacco around the world.The vast majority of the population of the developed countries is aware of the dangers of tobacco and smoking. Over 7 million people are killed across the globe by smoking Tobacco alone. Many of us know it is believed to be the leading cause of throat and lung cancers, and a major risk factor in many other types of cancer. However, what is little known is that smoking tobacco is one of the main cause of heart problems and diseases. The aim of World No Tobacco Day is to highlight this issue.
Tobacco use and second-hand smoke are known to contribute to around 12% of all deaths from heart disease and is the second leading cause of Cardio Vascular Disease, second only to high blood pressure (which smoking can also contribute to). While these numbers are bad for smokers, it’s important to remember that nearly 900,000 people are killed by breathing in second-hand smoke. The World No Tobacco Day also wants to highlight this issue that smokers don’t just affect their health, but that of the people and loved ones around them.
Finally, the WHO wants to bring awareness to the fact that of the over 1 billion people worldwide that smoke, nearly 80% of those are in low-income countries where tobacco-related disease and death will have the hardest impact.
