Botswana: Public Smoking Worrisome

Source from:  Daily News 12/10/2014

A senior registered nurse and a focal person for anti-smoking at Gumare Primary Hospital, Ms Odireleng Ntshunga says they have recorded an escalating number of tobacco related diseases such as Tuberculosis (TB) and lung cancer in their region.

Speaking in an interview, Ms Ntshunga said most of the cases were from non-smokers, but when examined, it showed they had been exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke. She described second hand smoke as the smoke that individuals breathe when they were located in the same air space as the smokers.

She said the second hand smoke results from the side steam smoke that came from the burning tip of a cigarette, cigar or pipe and the main stream smoke that was exhaled by the smokers.

Furthermore, she said second hand smoking, passive smoking, involuntary smoking or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke all refer to the event of breathing other people's smoke.

Ms Ntshunga said exposure to second hand smoke was a wide spread problem that affected everyone as it occurs throughout ordinary situations in daily life in homes, at work, at schools, on play grounds, public transport, in restaurants, bars and other places where people go.

She said it was a real threat that was associated with a range of life threatening health effects like lung cancer and heart disease. "It is more disturbing for children as it causes respiratory disease, middle ear disease, asthma attacks and sudden infant death syndrome," she said.

In addition, she said it also contributes to air pollution, causing eye irritations, sore throats, coughs and headaches. She observed that children were more vulnerable to the situations as they could not speak for themselves as adults smoke near them.

Ms Ntshunga also explained that the smoke that comes from tobacco contains over 4 000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases and that more than 40 of them could cause cancer in humans.

She said the chemicals include irritants and systemic poisons such as hydrogen cyanide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and formaldehyde. Also, Ms Ntshunga said chemicals such as nicotine and cadmium damage reproductive process.

"It is very important to know that non-smokers who breathe second-hand smoke suffer many of the same diseases as regular smokers," she noted.

Ms Ntshunga urged smokers to stop smoking near children and other people who did not smoke.

She said parents should talk to their children about the dangers of smoking as a way of nurturing them to be able to take necessary decisions when exposed to smoke.

The anti-smoking focal person noted that children are more vulnerable as they were sent to buy tobacco.

She also encouraged all smokers to quit smoking as it was not good but damages their health, adding that people who smoke develop a bad breath, which could bring down ones dignity. Enditem