Workshop throws light on health hazards of tobacco

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 9

A workshop under tobacco control programme was organised at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs’ Memorial (JBMM) Civil Hospital here on Monday.

District Nodal Officer for the programme Dr Sharanjit Kaur Sidhu said health hazards of tobacco were well-known and smoking during Covid-19 could be life threatening.

She said as per the World Health Organisation, around 12 per cent of the deaths in the world due to heart diseases are caused by active or passive smoking.

“The family members of a smoker are at a greater risk of health hazards than those of a non-smoker,” she said. Tobacco smoke contains about 40,000 different chemicals, which in turn cause different types of cancer, she said.

She said the sale and use of tobacco products within 100 yards of an educational institution was prohibited besides the sale of tobacco to minors was a criminal offence.

Dr Sidhu said e-cigarettes have also been banned, adding that under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, exposing a child to tobacco can attract a prison term of up to seven years.

District epidemiologist Dr Madan Mohan said the risk of oral cancer, throat cancer and lung cancer was highest with the consumption of chewing tobacco.