Qatar joined the world yesterday in celebrating World No Tobacco Day. The member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) created the World No Tobacco Day in 1987 via a resolution (WHA40.38) passed by World Health Assembly which called observing April 7, 1988 to be a world no-smoking day, but another resolution (WHA42.19) 1988, called for celebrating World No Tobacco Day every year on May 31.
This year WHO has chosen ‘Tobacco: Threat to our environment’ as a theme for the day to put more focus on the damage caused to the environment in all stages of tobacco production and use, including cultivation, manufacturing, smoking and disposal of tobacco waste products.
Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari said that tobacco smoke pollution is almost non-existent in Qatar as the practice is banned in public places and indoor facilities such as meeting halls, stadiums etc. Qatar neither has tobacco cultivation or manufacturing of tobacco products in the country. The country’s participation as a member of the Global Convention on Tobacco Control and Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in tobacco Products and at the Conference of the Parties to the Framework on Tobacco Control, help limit the adverse impact of smoking the community and the environment.
According to a recent WHO report, every year the tobacco industry costs the world more than eight million human lives, 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and 84 million tonnes of CO2. Tobacco products are the most littered item on the planet, containing over 7000 toxic chemicals, which leech into the environment when discarded. Roughly 4.5 trillion cigarette filters pollute our soil and beaches every year. Other than the environmental impact, tobacco inflicts other heavy damages to our physical and mental health. When we smoke, harmful chemicals enter the lungs and quickly spread throughout our body, reaching the brain, heart and other organs within 10 seconds of the first puff and reach every cell of our body.
Smoking makes us addicted to it quickly as the nicotine in tobacco makes your brain release a chemical called dopamine which makes us feel happy, concentrate and gives more energy. As its effects don’t last long, we crave for more and become a chain smoker.
The practice can damage every organ in our body, make us look older than our actual age, create yellow-brown stains on our fingers, trigger tooth loss etc. Years of smoking will definitely lead one to a debilitating state and premature death. So, it is not yet late to take final decision and kick the habit, which will save not only our life, but also help us do our bit to save the planet.
