No Smoking Day: Quit smoking, reduce chances of cancer and stroke

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Smoking kills! Tobacco consumption in any form can prove to be fatal for health, leading to diseases like cancer, heart attack, among others. No Smoking Day is celebrated on the second Wednesday of March. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted in 2019 showed a decline in tobacco consumption among Indians. 

Percentage of  Tobacco users (Smokers/Non Smokers ) in India  in 2019 as per GYTS stood at:

Current Tobacco Users 

2003: 16.9 

2006: 13.7 

2009: 14.6 

2019: 8.5 

Current Cigarette Smokers 

2003: 4.2 

2006: 3.8 

2009: 4.4 

2019: 2.6 

Current Bidi Smokers 

2003: 2.2 

2006: 4.7 

2009: 5.3 

2019: 2.1 

Exposure to Tobacco smoke at home  

2003: 36.4 

2006: 26.6 

2009: 21.9 

2019: 11.2 

Students who thought other people’s tobacco smoking is harmful to them 

2006: 67.9 

2009: 66.8 

2019: 70.6 

Here are some of the highlights of GYTS Survey 2019: 

•   8.5% of students - 9.6% of boys and 7.4% of girls - use tobacco products (in any form) 

•   Highest use of any tobacco product was in Arunachal  Pradesh and Mizoram (58% each) and lowest in Himachal Pradesh (1.1%). 

•    7.3%  of students  - 8.3%  of  boys  and  6.2%  of  girls  - smoke tobacco 

•    4.1% of students -    4.6% of boys and 3.4% of girls - use smokeless tobacco

•    2 in 10 current smokers - 25% of boys and 13% of girls - tried to quit smoking in the past 12 months (from the time survey was held in 2019) 

•      21% smokers wanted to quit smoking in 2019 

•      27% of users of smokeless tobacco - 28% of boys and 25% of girls - tried to quit using in past 12 months (from the time survey was held in 2019) 

•      1 in 4 current users of smokeless tobacco wanted to quit now. 

What will happen if you quit tobacco? 

In 8 hours: Oxygen levels return to normal
In 24 hours: Risk of heart attack begins to decrease
In 72 hours: Lung function improves
In 1-9 months: Coughing and shortness of breath decreases. 
In 12 months: Risk of heart disease is half as compared to tobacco user
In 5 years: Stroke risk is reduced. 
In 10 years: The risk of lung cancer is less than half as compared to tobacco users. 

(Reduced risk of diseases attributable to tobacco use; Source:  National Tobacco Control Programme) 

How Dangerous is Tobacco for you? 

- Major risk factors for Cancer, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), Diabetes, Chronic Lung Disease, stroke, infertility, blindness, Tuberculosis (TB), Oral Cavity etc
- 50% of cancers in males and 20% cancers in females 
- 40% of TB and other related diseases 

(Source: NTCP)

Effects of Smoking: 

Cough and throat irritation 
Bad breath and bad-smelling clothes 
Patchy skin and discoloration of teeth 
Serious fetal conditions 
Heart diseases and Lung cancer 

Over time, serious conditions may develop, including health problems like heart disease, bronchitis, pneumonia, stroke, and many types of cancer, out of which, oral cancer being quite common. 

 As per NTCP, the economic costs attributable to tobacco use in 2011 for persons aged 35-69  was Rs 1,04,500 crores. Tobacco use also causes loss to the environment, in terms of deforestation, pollution, litter, forest fires etc.