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of the African Virtual University-Indiana University of Pennsylvania Partnership.

The African Star

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Doctors warn of dangers of smoking

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Twenty five of Gambians, mostly youths, smoke. Yet tobacco is the cause of many diseases.

The Director of the Disease Prevention at the Department of State for Health and head of the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Unit Dr Kebba Manneh has said that tobacco usage worldwide has become a global epidemic and its health consequences in both the developed and the developing world are devastating.

Dr Manneh said the rise in tobacco- related  deaths reflects almost exactly the rise in smoking prevalence.

“Tobacco is a known or probably cause of about 25 diseases and the sheer scale of its impact on global disease burden is not fully appreciated,” he said.

He indicated that although no study has been done in relation to the tobacco prevalence in the Gambia, it is estimated that about 35 percent of the population are smokers of which the majority are youths.

According Dr Manneh, today, approximately one third of the global population aged 15 years and up are smokers of which 800 million are in the developing countries.

Dr Manneh said dependence on tobacco is a public health problem that warrants serious attention if the epidemic of tobacco related mortality and morbidity is to be reduced.

He said addiction to tobacco has been classified as a behavioral disorder indicating that the nicotine, which is contained in all tobacco products in substantial qualities and has been internationally recognized as a drug of addiction, causes it.

Commenting on second hand smoking, Dr Manneh stated that it contains essentially all of the same cancer causing and toxic agents that are inhaled by the smoker.

He said when a mother smokes; her children’s health may even be damaged from before they are born. He said studies have shown that children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke or second -hand smoking during the first 18 months of life have developed a 60 percent greater risk of developing lower respiratory illnesses.

“Babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy, as well as all infants exposed to second hand smoke have a significantly greater risk of dying of sudden infant death syndrome,” he said.

He advised that there is a need to change the social environment to one where non-smoking is considered normal and where the choice not to smoke is the easier option.

“People who stop using tobacco get substantial health benefits and quitting dramatically reduces the risk of most smoking related diseases, no matter of what age they break their nicotine habit,” he said.