Sombre facts for no-smoking day
While the number of Thai smokers had reached 11 million, another 16 million people were found to be at risk of inhaling secondary smoke in their own homes, Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said yesterday.
On the occasion of World No Smoking Day yesterday, which Thai provinces celebrated with anti-smoking campaigns, Mongkol urged the 1.3 billion smokers world-wide - a third of the adult population - to stop smoking for one day, and said this year's campaign would focus on protecting six billion non-smokers from secondary smoke. He said smoking caused five million deaths a year and if the problem remained unsolved, 650 million current smokers would die prematurely in the next 14 years. Mongkol cited a World Health Organisation report of secondary smokers aged 13 to 15, in 132 nations between 1999 and 2005, that found 44 per cent were exposed to cigarette smoke at home and 56 per cent in public places. Of 11 Southeast and South Asian countries, 11.7 per cent of Thai students smoked compared to India's 4.2 per cent. A lit cigarette created more than 4,000 toxins, while at least 250 toxins - with more than 60 being cancer triggering substances - were found in secondary smoke, he said. A Mahidol University study last year found that seven million Thai households - out of 18 million - had smokers. Furthermore, 16 million people - three million being children under five - were at risk of inhaling secondary smoke at home. A National Statistic Office report last year said there were 11 million smokers aged over 11 and 9.5 million of them said they were addicted to nicotine, Mongkol said. Men smoked 15 times more than women with an average of 10 cigarettes a day. The average age to begin smoking was 18. Some 52,000 people died annually from smoking-related diseases, costing Bt44 billion in medical bills. If all Thai smokers stopped smoking for one day, it would reduce fumes from 100 million cigarettes and save Bt200 million. From September 28, ministerial regulations will insist that cigar packs carry warning messages with images covering 50 per cent of the packet's surface, said Public Health permanent secretary Prat Boonyawong-virot. Regulation violators would face up to Bt100,000 in fines. The Ministry also made 20 ministries and nine offices smoke-free zones and would expand the policy to the provinces this year.
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