Anti-tobacco campaign: Together we can….

The world no tobacco day is celebrated on 31^st May worldwide, highlighting the health risks associated with the use of tobacco and implementation of policies to reduce its consumption. World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution on May 15, 1987 declaring April 7, 1988 to be the first world no smoking day. On May 17, 1988, the WHO passed a resolution marking, May 31^st to be annually known as “World No Tobacco Day.” This event has been observed each year since 1988.

The second major cause of death globally is the use of tobacco and is currently responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide. A report in 2014, from WHO, suggested that the rate of tobacco consumption in India was rising and about 2500 people die daily (more than 9 lakhs in a year) in the country due to tobacco-related diseases. Tobacco-related cancers represented 42% of male and 18% of female cancer deaths between 30 and 69 years of age. The death toll due to the use of tobacco is expected to reach 1.5 million a year by 2020 if more users are not motivated to leave the deadly habit of using tobacco in one form or the other.

Understanding these alarming figures, it becomes a moral duty of all dental practitioners to identify the patients, who are in the habit of using tobacco and then persuading them to leave the habit. The associations between tobacco use and diseases affecting the oral cavity such as periodontal diseases and cancer are now well-recognized, and this information must be passed on to the patients emphatically. It may not be as simple as it sounds since it requires a lot of extra effort on the part of health care professionals and a good follow-up. The use of pictures and presentations revealing the deadly effects of tobacco in individual clinics and masses during health care camps can be an efficient way to convey the message.

Despite having signed up to a global treaty on tobacco control and having numerous anti-tobacco and smoke-free laws, the effective implementation seems lacking. The time has come when each individual, in particular, the health care professionals must take the task in their hand of eradicating this dread, which is leaving the people more vulnerable to addiction and ill health.

Time to time, specific guidelines are being given by the governing bodies on how to curb this growing health hazard. The slogan of year 2015, given by WHO for the anti-tobacco day is “stop the illicit trade of tobacco products.” Let us all, as dental health care professionals join hands to make sure we will help society get rid of this colossal muddle as individuals, as well as in association, with our medical counterparts.

David Byrne rightly said once when motivating the masses to quit tobacco use “the true face of tobacco is disease, death and horror not the glamour and sophistication, the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray”.

I appeal one and all to use their contacts whatever they have to work in the direction of eradication of the menace of tobacco use from the society and I am confident that together we can achieve this goal.