The Acting Minister of Health and the Permanent Secretary Abdullahi Mashi said Nigerians consumed over 20 billion sticks of cigarettes thereby killing over 16,100 persons every year in the country as result of tobacco-related diseases which are predominantly non-communicable diseases (NCD).
He made this known at a press briefing on Friday to commemorate the 2019 World No Tobacco Day with the theme “Tobacco and Lung Health,” saying, government is committed to tackling tobacco menace, and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) is coordinating all national tobacco control activities.
According to him, “in Nigeria, findings from the 2012 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) show very high burden of tobacco in the country with over 20 billion sticks of cigarettes consumed annually. The Nigerian GATS found 4.5 million (5.6%) adults to be current users of tobacco products. Also, the rate of exposure to second-hand smoke in public places is very high at 82% in bars and nightclubs, 36.3% in coffee shops and 29.3% in restaurants. Among our school children, age 13 – 15 years, 15.4% are current tobacco users based on the Nigeria Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) that was conducted in 2008 at sub-national level.
“Although there is no reliable national data on the number of death caused by tobacco in Nigeria, however, estimates from the Tobacco Atlas 6th edition shows that over 16,100 persons are killed every year in the country as result of tobacco-related diseases which are predominantly non-communicable diseases (NCD). You will agree with me that the figure is the tip of the iceberg,” he added.
Mashi further stated that, this year’s event seeks to raise awareness on the magnitude of illnesses and deaths from lung diseases such as cancer of the lungs, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary tuberculosis which evidence has shown that they can all be caused by direct tobacco use and exposure to second hand-tobacco smoke. This year’s commemoration further seeks to raise awareness and bring all relevant stakeholders on board to reinforce the Federal Ministry of Health’s (FMoH) efforts in the promotion of lung health with the view to achieving overall health and well-being of Nigerian citizens.
His words: “Although tobacco is a legitimate product, however its use in any form or disguise including exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is very hazardous as it has no permissible safe limit. Laboratory analysis shows that tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals of which at least 250 are proven to be harmful and more than 69 are known to cause cance
“According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, there are over 1.1 billion adult smokers worldwide and at least 367 million persons use smokeless tobacco products. Of these, eight million die annually through the effect of tobacco of which over six million are by direct use and about 890,000 by exposure to second-hand smoke. At least 50% of lifetime tobacco smokers will die before they reach 70 years of age, and the average loss of life from smoking is a full decade of life (Jha et al. 2015).
“In line with the theme of this year’s commemoration titled ‘Tobacco and Lung Health,’ it behooves on all of us to do all we can to prevent tobacco-related lung disease. Globally, lung cancer, which is the most deadly cancer, kills 1.76 million people each year of which approximately 37,748 of the lung cancer deaths occur in Africa. It is estimated that 65 million people worldwide have moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), from which about 3 million die each year. Similarly, tuberculosis afflicts 10.4 million people annually with a corresponding 1.4 million deaths
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