Almost half the people who smoke
regularly will eventually be killed by tobacco related illnesses. What
is more terrible is that hundreds of thousands of people who have never
smoked once before are also killed each year by passive smoking.
In many countries, there has been a call
for protection of non-smokers recently. The European countries are
beginning to realise that the best and only solution for protecting
non-smokers is to promote 100 percent smoke-free environments. The EU
countries have begun to pass legislations to ban smoking in all public
places, including cafes, open air restaurants, coffee shops etc. Any
form of smoking while driving and walking along the road are also
prohibited in many countries around the world. There is no hope such
legislations could ever be passed to protect non-smokers in Maldives. It
is so because cigarette and heroin addicts in this country have the
power to influence any legislation that does not favour them. It seems
that the streets in Malé are for spitting, smoking, throwing cigarette
butts and empty bottles or packets.
Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 different
harmful chemicals. Nearly 250 of these are either carcinogenic or toxic.
They range from the colourless and odourless poisonous carbon monoxide
to hydrogen cyanide. Smoke coming from the tip of a burning cigarette
actually contains higher concentrations of many of these compounds than
the smoke inhaled by the smoker. Tobacco companies do not disclose the
secrets involved in the production of cigarettes for fear of losing
profit from the business.
In most countries, much of the harm
caused by secondhand smoking actually starts at home. Many people see
their homes as the perfect place for smoking; therefore they unwittingly
expose their families to the poisons carried in the smoke. However,
even if you are able to create a smoke free home, you are not protected
from secondhand smoking and the ash that comes to your face as long as
you walk on the crowded streets of Malé. It often happens that students’
uniforms and skin get burned or hot ash from cigarettes land on their
faces or hair.
Children have a much weaker immune
system compared to adults because their bodies are still developing.
This makes them more vulnerable to the poisons in smoke than adults.
Secondhand smoking can aggravate asthma and respiratory diseases as well
as cause ear problems in young children.
According to research by experts, babies
whose mothers have smoked during pregnancy are born with weaker lungs.
This could increase the risk of many heart problems to such babies.
These babies are also at a higher risk of dying from sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS) than babies not exposed to smoke.
A pregnant mother should not expose her
unborn baby to the harmful toxins in smoke; the mother should also not
be exposed to secondhand smoking during pregnancy. In addition to the
harm it can cause, passive smoking is also known to cause a decrease in
female fertility. Women married to smoking husbands have to be very
careful because this makes harder for them to conceive a baby. Apart
from the money wasted, the filthy odour of smoke in the smokers’ body
and clothes too cause harm to others.
A study conducted in the United States
showed that secondhand smoke exposure can endanger pets as well. In the
research, longer exposure to the smoke caused an increase in the
likelihood of cats developing health complications.
____________________________________________________Written by: Ibrahim Nazim
20 October 2010, Wednesday
12 Zulqaida 1431
No comments:
Post a Comment