It’s a fact! A huge percentage of the world’s population is smokers and among the top causes of death is associated with smoking. An estimated 400,000 deaths each year are caused directly by cigarette smoking. (Source: excerpt from Smoking and Your Digestive System: NIDDK) Government and private institutions’ efforts to have massive information drive to educate people about the serious harmful effects of smoking is countless, hence, smoking deaths are still rapidly increasing.
It’s alarming yet this sad reality over time doesn’t change. More and more smoking deaths every second, every minute, every day, every month, and every year and with a rapidly changing human lifestyle, it is noticeable that smokers start at a very young age.
Last March 2010, there was a video that really disturbed the world. It showed a two-year-old Indonesian toddler smoking cigarettes. In the news, it says that the boy’s father gave him his first cigarette when he was 18 months old and now he smokes 40 cigarettes a day. If he doesn’t get his cigarettes, she says he gets angry and screams and hits his head against the wall.
Smoking is a silent killer. Smokers deny this truth and believe that everyone has its time to die. But take this for example. Experts say one (1) cigarette takes approximately twelve (12) minutes of your life. If you smoke at least 1 cigarette a day, in a year, 4,380 minutes of your life was taken from you. That is equivalent to 3 days or 73 hours! If you have been smoking for ten (10) years now, 30 days of your life was lost. It could have been a one month full vacation.
Here are some additional facts from various sources about smoking deaths world wide. There are estimated 1.3 billion people are smokers worldwide and every 6.5 seconds a current or former smoker dies, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Also, 33 percent to 50 percent of all smokers are killed by their habit and they die on average 15 years sooner than non-smokers and reports say that around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco. On this basis, smoking is set to kill 6.5 million people in 2015 and 8.3 million humans in 2030. Meanwhile, cancer is the second leading cause of death and was among the first diseases causally linked to smoking.
I can give more statistics but instead I’m making a humble call. Smoking deaths can be prevented. Let’s all work together to stop these phenomena. Smoking deaths can be prevented through collaborative efforts of all the sectors of the society. The government should implement a total ban to tobacco or tobacco control trough increasing taxes on these industries. As well as implementing cigarette selling ban to youth below 18 years of age. Give more promotion on smoking alternatives and intensify the anti-cigarette smoking advocacy.
On the other hand, responsible parenthood should be exercised. Parent should be able to teach and guide their sons and daughters about the harmful effects of cigarettes. By doing so, smokers at younger age will be lessen.
Smokers now should consider quitting smoking for a better future, much has been said and I know every smoker should know about this.
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