More than 7,000 die annually of passive smoking in India

Dr Naresh Purohit, Advisor, National Cancer Control Programme, informed that 7,300 people in India die every year because of passive smoking.

“Passive smoking causes wheezing, chronic cough, increased mucus, shortness of breath, asthma, lung infection, pneumonia, lung cancer,” he added.
Dr Purohit, who presented his population-based study titled ‘Smoking Is A Death Warrant’ at a National Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme on Health Problems due to smoking organised by the Government Medical College, Tezpur, on the eve of World No Tobacco Day yesterday, further said among men, oral cancers of the mouth and throat related to excessive consumption of tobacco products and smoking is the leading cause of cancer and death.

“Nine out of ten deaths are caused by cancer due to tobacco consumption. Smoking hampers lung growth and maturation at adulthood, artery disease, greater susceptibility and severity of respiratory illness,” he said.

Dr Purohit further claimed that as per his recent study done under the patronage of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 7,300 people in India die every year because of passive smoking and 40pc of all deaths due to cancer is directly caused by tobacco.

“Cancer increases by age and cancer of the tongue at 8.8 per lakh in males at Bhopal is highest in all continents and the rate of oesophagus cancer in women of Bengaluru is one of the highest (8.3 per lakh) in the world,” he added.

“Control on consumption of tobacco can be done by creating awareness in people, educating the professionals, legal empowerment and making policies to stop smoking,” Dr Purohit maintained.