PS warns on tobacco rights
Tefo Pheage | Wednesday November 23, 2016 16:11
She was speaking at a public debate under the theme ‘Smoke-Free Public Places - A Human Right’ at the University of Botswana(UB) conference centre. El Halabi said protecting our right to breathe clean air is a fundamental right.
“The scientific evidence is clear that second-hand smoke (SHS) causes serious diseases like cancer, heart disease and premature death among non-smokers and childhood illness including cot death and asthma. Worldwide, 600,000 people are estimated to die annually as a result of exposure to SHS,” she said.
El Halabi said that SHS interferes with normal functioning of heart, blood, and vascular systems in ways that increase risk of cardiac event, brief exposure can cause blood platelets to become stickier, damages lining of blood vessels and exposures at home or at work increase risk of heart disease by 25% to 30% in nonsmokers. On lung cancer, El Halabi reported that SHS increases lung cancer among non-smokers, contains more than 50 carcinogens and exposures at home or at work increase risk of lung cancer by 20% to 30% in non-smokers.
For children, the PS said SHS is more dangerous to them, as most of them do not have a voice to say no to smokers. “It can lead to sudden several conditions like Infant Death Syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma and slowed lung growth,” she advised.
She further warned that:
* Pregnant women exposed to SHS six hours a day pass carcinogens to the blood of the unborn,
* SHS for two hours a day causes two times risk of low birth weight, miscarriage, prematurity and sudden Infant Death”.
On smoking at work, Halabi said the workplace is a major source of exposure for adult non-smokers. She said exposure in the workplace is linked to increased lung cancer and heart disease risk and as you may be aware we spend most of our times in our workplaces.