World Cancer Day

February 4, 2008

A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless- (James I of England, A Counterblaste to Tobacco, 1604)

For all those parents desiring the best for their children, the 4^th of February 2008, is indeed a decisive day. This day, is dedicated to the cause of cancer worldwide, and is celebrated annually as World Cancer Day. It is the motto-“Burning Vision to Enable a Smoke-Free Childhood” that makes the day very special this year.

As we burn both ends of the candle to raise children in a ‘perfect’ environment, do we pause to think- if the mother of all basics, the breath of life is ‘safe’ for children? The answer is evident in the statistics, which show that nearly 700 million children are constantly exposed to the deleterious effects of tobacco smoke. And this exposure takes place in the ‘safest’ place called ‘HOME’.

Honing in on the issue, The World Cancer Day preamble is a war cry to parents, booming the truth- "Second-hand smoke is a health hazard for you and your family. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Give your child a smoke-free childhood.

Do not deny their fundamental right to breathe clean air.”

‘Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics’

- Author Unknown

• Lung cancer, deadliest of all cancers, causes 1.2 million deaths globally
• An estimated 3 million people suffer from lung cancer; most of the victims are from the developed nations.
• Smoking accounts for 90% of lung cancer cases
• Smoking is also linked to risks of heart disease and stroke
• Second-hand smoke, leading cause of respiratory infections in children

Blow Hot on Second Hand Smoke

Nearly 85% of the adults are blissfully unaware about a prominent cause of childhood illnesses- exposure to second hand smoke. Second hand smoke, known by other names such as ‘Passive smoke’ or ‘Environmental Tobacco Smoke’ (ETS), is the inhalation of tobacco smoke from the atmosphere, released by the puff of a first hand smoker. It is extremely harmful to child health and is akin to the child lighting up.

Most parents are unaware that tobacco is made of the most noxious of substances, of which more than 40 of them are undoubtedly carcinogenic. Second hand smoke is worse, where carcinogens are believed to be in a highly virulent form as compared to the smoke inhaled by a smoker.

What makes children prone to risks of ETS?

• They take in more air; therefore will inhale more toxins in the air
• Nascent immune system
• Unable to effectively verbalize their problems
• Incapacitated to insulate themselves from ETS independently.

Second hand smoke not only enhances the risk of cancer, it can also ignite a host of chronic health problems, like respiratory tract infections, asthma, inadequate lung function, and insufficient supply of oxygen to the lungs. Second hand smoke is inextricably linked to the incidences of sudden infant death syndrome, leukemia in childhood, neurobehavioral abnormalities, meningococcal infections and a host of upper respiratory tract infections.

Tobacco on Fire

An incisive survey conducted by scientists from the University of Waterloo put the smokers’ mind- set in a bad light. The survey showed that nearly 77% to 93% of smokers refused to believe that second hand smoke could actually stoke up a host of diseases among non-smokers, even cancer. They dismissed all the facts and figures as misrepresentation and instead shifted the blame to other forms of pollution. Nothing could be further from the truth.