According to a recent survey, one third of the male students and 11 percent of female students of medical colleges use tobacco in one form or the other, making it difficult for the authorities concerned to ban the use of tobacco, King Edward Medical University (KEMU) Department of Surgery Head Professor Arshad Cheema said on Tuesday. He was addressing medical students and doctors in a seminar organised to mark the world no smoking day in the KEMU. Earlier, the KEMU Department of Surgery organised an awareness walk against the use of tobacco which started from the university and ended at the GPO Chowk. Mayo Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Zahid Pervaiz, Jinnah Hospital Professor Zafarullah Chaudhry and Services Hospital Professor Sadaqat attended the walk along with students from their respective colleges.
Highlighting the issue, Cheema said cancer was the second commonest death-causing disease in Pakistan. Only injuries kill more people than cancer. Four out of ten cancers can be prevented by following certain guidelines such as avoiding risky behaviour and getting specific vaccinations. Every third cancer in this country is caused by the use of tobacco. He further said as per an estimate around one million people die every year because of cancer. As per the WHO, certain preventive measures can decrease deaths because of cancer by 40 percent. Chaudhry said according to the WHO statistics, cigarette was the culprit behind the death of every tenth man in the world.
He said smoking and chewing paan containing tobacco led to cancers of mouth, larynx, lungs, esophagus and stomach. He said in Karachi and Lahore, tobacoo and paan were the biggest causers of mouth cancer. He said avoiding tobacco prevented cancer and several other serious ailments of lungs, heart and blood vessels.Pervaiz said an early detection of cancer brightened the chances of survival, adding that in a majority of cases, survival or cure was directly related to the stage at which the disease was diagnosed. He said people should improve their life style to avoid cancer. He said changes such as quitting smoking, using a healthy diet and avoiding direct sunlight could help avoid cancer. He said the former health secretary declared all hospitals smoke free zones on the “World No Smoking Day” last year, but with no implementation. A large number of medical students, nurses and people from the media attended the walk and the seminar.
