Tobacco kills one person every four seconds and every year the World Health Organization (WHO) and global partners celebrate World No Tobacco Day on May 31. Tobacco is deadly in any form and threatens the lung health of everyone exposed to it. Which is why this year’s WHO theme is focussed on tobacco and lung health, with the tagline “Don’t let tobacco take your breath away.” Tobacco kills more than eight million people every year and there are more than one million deaths due to exposure to second-hand smoke. The annual campaign aims to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure, and to discourage the use of tobacco in any form.
The most effective measure to improve lung health is to reduce tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure. But knowledge among large sections of the general public, and particularly among smokers, on the implications for lung health from tobacco smoking and second-hand smoke exposure is low in some countries. Despite strong evidence of the harmful effect of tobacco on lung health, the potential of tobacco control to improve lung health remains underestimated.
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