On 31 May 2021, Nigeria and other African countries join the rest of the world in celebrating the World No Tobacco Day 2021 — a day that is set aside to highlight the risks of tobacco smoking especially as the world continues to deal with the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, revealed that smokers have up to a 50% higher risk of developing severe disease and death from COVID-19.
“So quitting is best thing smokers can do to lower their risk from this coronavirus, as well as the risk of developing cancers, heart disease and respiratory illnesses,” he said.
The WHO urged all countries to play their part by joining the WHO campaign and creating tobacco-free environments that give people the information, support and tools they need to quit, and quit for good.
Nigeria is one of the countries where the WHO’s ‘Commit to Quit’ tobacco campaign is happening. Through the campaign, resources from WHO’s Quitting Toolkit are freely available to more than a billion tobacco users, less than 5 months into the year-long campaign.
In a separate statement, Dr Ruediger Krech, WHO’s Director of Health Promotion, said nicotine found in tobacco is highly addictive and creates dependence. The behavioural and emotional ties to tobacco use – like having a cigarette with coffee, craving tobacco, feelings of sadness or stress – make it hard to kick the habit. But with professional support and cessation services, Krech said tobacco users double their chances of quitting successfully.
Currently, over 70% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide lack access to the tools they need to quit successfully. This gap in access to cessation services is only further exacerbated in the last year as the health workforce has been mobilized to handle the pandemic.
E-cigarettes are not proven cessation aids
The tobacco industry has continuously attempted to subvert these life-saving public health measures. Over the last decade, the tobacco industry has promoted e-cigarettes as cessation aids under the guises of contributing to global tobacco control. Meanwhile, they have employed strategic marketing tactics to hook children on this same portfolio of products, making them available in over 15,000 attractive flavours.
The scientific evidence on e-cigarettes as cessation aids is inconclusive and there is a lack of clarity as to whether these products have any role to play in smoking cessation. Switching from conventional tobacco products to e-cigarettes is not quitting.
“We must be guided by science and evidence, not the marketing campaigns of the tobacco industry – the same industry that has engaged in decades of lies and deceit to sell products that have killed hundreds of millions of people”, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “E-cigarettes generate toxic chemicals, which have been linked to harmful health effects such as cardiovascular disease & lung disorders.”