Smoking now is a great deal we face in our time. Most of the people in the world are now smokers and they are found in large percentages. Passive smoking is more dangerous than smoking the cigarette itself. Passive smokers inhale 60% of the smoke that is exhaled out by active smokers (Al-Sayed & Ibrahim 637). -Environmental tobacco smoke has a great effect on air pollution. Three lit cigarettes produce 10 times more poisonous emissions than that of a Diesel engine. 50% of smokers in Egypt would die from smoke-related causes According to the Egyptian Ministry of Health the amount of cigarettes smoked per year reached a number of 80 billion cigarettes. In 2003 317,812 males and 266,126 females in Egypt lost their lives due to tobacco-related illnesses. Most of these illnesses are lung cancer, asthma, heart clots, and nerve system disorders. All of these high death rates are mainly caused by passive smoking. Passive smoking is when the individual inhales the smoke exhaled by another smoker. This shows how passive smokers are affected much more than smokers themselves. Passive smoking causes damage to the immunity system, liver, maternal milk, and lungs. It also causes much more diseases such as cancer, asthma, neurological disorders, and child growth. These diseases are fatal and could immediately lead to death. These diseases are common between people due to the increase in indoor smoking. In the next paragraphs, a survey and 2 studies in different countries will be mentioned. Also the effect of passive smoking on maternal milk lipid will be talked about. We should stop smoking indoors in order to prevent such disasters.
A survey was conducted in the American University In Cairo (AUC) (see Appendix I). AUC is the appropriate place to hold a smoking survey due to the differences in the age ranges; also any university in Egypt is home to an unhealthy smoking environment. 50 students and teachers were given survey forms to fill. The survey included questions such as: Are you a smoker? Are you bothered when a person smokes near you? Do you violate the indoor smoking bans in the university? The results collected from the survey were shocking (see Figure 1); 70% of the people who filled the survey were smokers, 36% violate the indoor smoking bans in the university, and from the 30% who were non-smokers only half of them were bothered from individuals smoking near them. Around 24% from the smokers who filled the survey were bothered from people smoking near them, although they smoke (Farrag). These numbers and figures show how university students form a great percentage of passive smokers in Egypt. Violating the indoor smoking bans is the main cause of passive smoking illnesses in most of the places, and here in AUC this happens a lot. All of the people who violated the smoking bans were students, there were no professors violating the ban. This brings up the idea that the youth are the main threat in smoking issues. While I was walking around the campus I decided to interview Hassan Tawfik, a Business Administration Undergraduate student. Through the interview it appeared that he was not familiar with the threats of passive smoking and the illnesses of this fatal phenomenon. He was asked if he is a smoker and whether he smokes indoors. He answered, “ I usually smoke inside the buildings of the university while waiting for the professors to enter the class” (Tawfik). He mentioned also that he leaves the class a lot in order to smoke a cigarette and then come back. This shows how smoking can affect the progress of students in their academic pathways. When I asked him why don’t you respect the universities’ laws, he said, “All of the people here never respect the laws stated by the administration, then why should I abide by these rules” (Tawfik). It is seen here that the university should be tougher on implementing its laws and regulations. The interview and the results show that smoking indoors should be totally banned, and more health precautions should be put into consideration. According to a study in Harvard University, Universities now are not fully aware of the threat caused by smoking inside the campuses (Woolston). In the article it is mentioned that alcohol issues usually gain more attention than smoking, but smoking now became more dangerous than alcohol. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2005, done on 10,000 U.S college students, found that nearly 1 in 10 students had attended a bar, nightclub or campus student event where cigarettes were given away during the academic year. In 2005, the tobacco industry spent over $214 million on entertainment events and another $230 million on specialty item distribution of products, often with their logos on it (Woolston). These figures show how smoking companies affect students; these temptations affect their grades and it usually increases the percentage of college smokers. The study also showed than in the U.S, 3 in every 5 college students smoke (Woolston). Smoking is attacking our environment and it is also affecting the health of non-smokers, especially in universities. Smoking in universities should be totally stopped in order to save the students. Universities all around the world have to apply common rules and regulations in order to help the students. The case faced is not only in universities and Egypt, but it is around the whole world.
Moreover smoking is not only affecting universities, but it is affecting the whole communities. The French government suggested solutions in order to stop smoking diseases. The situation of passive smokers and smoking cases in Egypt is similar to that in France. Smoking indoors is found in a great percentage. 29% of males and 25% of females form up the smoking population in France. 17% of the citizens under the age of 15 smoke in France. These numbers add up to a 35% of the population smoking (Lichfield). According to these figures, the French Health Minister, Marisol Touraine said that the toughest smoking ban regime is about to be applied due to the high death rates that smoking causes. Colors and brand names are about to be removed from cigarette packets and they will be replaced by health warnings in a large font size and prominent photographs of the diseased organs of smokers. Car drivers will be banned from lighting up cigarettes in the presence of another individual, whether a smoker or not, especially during the presence of children. Smoking indoors will be banned all over the country (Lichfield). Smoking near children in parks and outdoor places will be banned. All over Tv and radios a campaign will launch in order to tell the effects of smoking and the diseases it causes. It will be obligatory for each tobacco industry to fund anti-smoking campaigns, and tobacco industries will have to expose their hidden laboratories in order to show the people how a cigarette is made and the amount of lethal chemicals in the single cigarette (Lichfield). The Health Minister also mentioned “We can no longer accept the fact that the number of deaths caused by tobacco in France is the equivalent of an airliner crashing each day with 200 people on board.” Her objective is to totally abolish smoking during the next 40 years by discouraging the new generation from practicing the habit of smoking. Her objective over the period is to reduce the French smoking rate from 1 to 3 adults to the present British rate of 1-6 adults by 2024. These rules should be implemented by 2016. While in India, Professor Jingyan in the Institute of Global Tobacco Control has conducted an experiment in the tobacco control field. Jingyan measured the levels of passive smoking illnesses in India before implementing smoking bans and after implementing them. These laws banned smoking indoors in the most crowded Indian town. The purpose of these laws was to decrease the percentage of SHS and passive smoking. The tests on the small town were a success and Professor Jingyan presented his work to the Indian government. The Indian Government decided to apply the ban of indoor smoking in most of the major cities and towns in India. After applying the ban, Passive smoking in India decreased 15% in the first year and another 40% the year after (Jingyan 29). From the two previous examples of solutions performed in two different countries, Egyptians should start decreasing tobacco use in closed places. The Egyptian government should start applying laws similar to the French and Indian ones. While applying the bans, the Egyptian government should be aware of the physical and mental health of smokers. Smokers could be affected by these bans (Asbridge 76).
Another important case in smoking is the effect of smoking on maternal milk lipid. Children are affected through the damages caused in the maternal milk lipid (Bachour et al.182). Maternal milk lipid is affected due to mothers inhaling the smoke of other smokers. Mothers are now passive smokers and the milk they give to their children is polluted and filled with toxicants that could kill the infant. Dr. Baheiri, Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health, conducted a study on mothers in their maternal period. Half of them were passive smokers and the others were not. The experiment was randomized and controlled. The experiment showed that passive smoking has a great effect on infants and their growth rate. 1 in 20 mothers subjected to passive smoking has at least one death case occurring to one of their infants (Baheiri et al. 282). The results also showed some nicotine levels found in the blood of the infants (Baheiri et al. 282). These results show how dangerous it us for mothers in their maternal period to be subjected to tobacco smoke and other toxicants. Baheiri suggested different solutions in order to stop the problem and help save infants subjected to this kind of disease. Therefore it is seen that passive smoking is really dangerous on children and their mothers. Another experiment conducted in Lebanon by Dr. Bachour, Head of Department of sciences in University of Lebanon, showed that passive smoking could greatly affect the milk given to the infants. The experiment was conducted on 23 smoking mothers and 46 non-smoking mothers. The result showed that the milk of the smoking mothers had a 26% decrease in lipids and 18% decrease in proteins than the normal milk (Bachour et al. 187). These two experiments are enough to show how smoking affects maternal milk lipid.
Finally, smoking causes a great threat towards indoor pollution. It affects children through maternal milk lipid and it mostly affects people in indoor areas. The Egyptian government should follow methods used to prevent smoking such as these in France and India. Therefore in order to prevent smoking pollution and diseases, these steps should be taken to help raise awareness.
-Ahmed Farrag
Survey:
Are You a Smoker?
Do you violate the indoor smoking bans in the University?
Are you a smoker and bothered from other people smoking?
Are you a non-smoker and bothered from other people smoking?
Results:
Smokers: 70%
Non-smokers: 30%
Smokers violating the ban: 36%
Smokers not violating the ban: 64%
Smokers bothered from other smokers: 18%
Non-smokers bothered from other smokers: 16%
Figure 1: Graph showing the results of the survey.
-Ahmed Farrag
No comments:
Post a Comment