World No Tobacco Day

May 3rd1Day is "World No Tobacco Day", and the theme of 2007 No Tobacco Day is "Creating a Smoke-free Environment" to remind the public of the harm of tobacco smoke to passive smokers and the environment.

Since 1950s, a large number of epidemiological studies around the world have confirmed that smoking is the primary risk factor for lung cancer. In order to arouse the international community's attention to the harm of tobacco to human health, the World Health Organization suggested that April 7th of each year be designated as "World No Tobacco Day" and implemented on 1988. Since 1989, World No Tobacco Day has been changed to May 3 1 day every year.

Cigarettes contain more than 1400 components. There are more than 40 carcinogens in the smoke produced by smoking, and there are more than 10 substances that can promote the development of cancer, among which nicotine, carbon monoxide and other metal compounds are the most harmful to human body. A cigarette contains enough nicotine to kill a mouse. The binding capacity of carbon monoxide and hemoglobin in cigarette smoke is 240-300 times greater than that of oxygen, which seriously weakens the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells. Therefore, smoking accelerates blood coagulation and easily causes cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke and myocardial hypoxia. What's more, smokers also seriously hinder the health of others. The results show that a smoker does more harm to others than to himself when smoking.

Relevant medical research shows that smoking is a behavioral hazard factor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other diseases, and smoking has become the second largest global killer after hypertension. According to statistics, 5 million people worldwide die of smoking-related diseases every year. If not controlled, this number will reach100000 by 2020. Some data show that the incidence of lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, coronary heart disease, circulatory system and trachea of long-term smokers is 10 to 20 times, 6 to 10 times, 2 to 3 times, 3 times and 2 to 8 times higher than that of non-smokers. Passive smoking is more harmful, and the average daily passive smoking 1 hour is enough to destroy arterial blood vessels. Some women who live with smokers are six times more likely to develop lung cancer than ordinary people. At present, there are1300 million smokers in the world, of which 900 million are in developing countries. The number of smokers, especially young smokers, is increasing. There are about 350 million smokers in China. In 2002, the smoking rate in China was 66% for men and 3.08% for women. Smokers in China are getting younger, and the number of teenagers smoking is as high as 50 million. The survey shows that the number of young smokers in the world has increased.

Although the tobacco industry has always claimed that it can bring jobs and taxes and make great contributions to the world economy, according to the data provided by the World Health Organization, the contribution of the tobacco industry to the economy is far from enough to offset the losses it has caused to household expenses, public health, the environment and the national economy. Therefore, the World Health Organization has listed tobacco epidemic as the most serious public health problem in the world and as a key control area. In May, 2003, at the World Health Assembly held in Geneva, WHO 192 member countries unanimously adopted the first global tobacco control treaty-the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which provided a legal framework for controlling tobacco hazards and safeguarding human health on a global scale.

Controlling tobacco harm is a long-term, arduous and complex public health problem. Therefore, the World Health Organization's proposal of "creating a smoke-free environment" is also telling the public that smoking and passive smoking are the biggest but preventable risk factors facing human health, and the public has the right to demand clean air free from tobacco smoke pollution. Only by "creating and enjoying 100% smoke-free environment" can people be better protected from the harm of tobacco smoke.