The Effects Of Smoking On Health

 
Even though the harmful effects of smoking on health is widely known to many people, this fact is regrettably ignored by many smokers worldwide due to a number of factors. According to research,  many smokers are of the view that having acquired the taste for smoking it is extremely difficult to quit the practice. Secondly, the habit of smoking is considered fashionable by many young men and women of today. 

Also, there are others who are subtly influenced by monetary
considerations through benefits obtained from sponsorship packages as seen in some African movies in which both young and old actors are seen displaying their skills in smoking.   

Unfortunately, there are
many  health hazards are associated with smoking. Tobacco smoke contains chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and non-smokers. Indeed, breathing in even a little tobacco smoke can be harmful because health experts say that of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful. Smoking causes harm to nearly every organ of the human body and also worsens a person’s overall health status. Again, apart from being a leading cause of cancer and its resultant death, smoking poses great risk to
both men and women. 

A pregnant woman who smokes is at higher risk of having her baby born too early and with an abnormally low birth weight. Also, a woman who smokes during or after pregnancy increases the risk of death for her baby. Similarly, men who smoke are at greater risk of erectile dysfunction.  It has been established that there  is a drug
that is naturally present in the tobacco plant and is primarily
responsible for a person’s addiction to tobacco products, including cigarettes. 

During smoking, nicotine enters the lungs and is absorbed
quickly into the bloodstream, travelling to the brain in a matter of seconds. Thus, nicotine causes addiction to cigarettes and other tobacco products similar to the addiction produced by using drugs such as heroin and cocaine.   

In the light of all this, there is the need to mount an effective and systematic campaign to influence smokers to quit smoking and non-smokers to shun it.
The health benefits of quitting smoking are substantial.

For instance,  the rate of heart beat and blood pressure which are
abnormally high during smoking will begin to return to normal when a person quits smoking. In addition, people who quit smoking have an improved sense of smell as well as better taste for food.
They are also  less likely to die from smoking-related illness
compared to those who continue to smoke. 

Thankfully, Ghana passed a law banning smoking in public places. But the question is on enforceability of the law.  

The Ministry of Health, policy makers, parliamentarians, counselors, religious leaders, smokers, non-smokers and all stakeholders must come together for a successful campaign against smoking, especially among the youth who are easily influenced.

In addition, raising taxes on tobacco can serve as the most effective and cost-effective way of reducing tobacco use around the world, and in Ghana.

BY KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO, HEAD OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, GHANA STANDARDS
AUTHORITY