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`Smoking responsible for 90 p.c. lung cancer deaths'

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 31. ``India is passing through a social transformation phase which is the leading cause for lifestyle diseases. And tobacco is one of the main reasons for this,'' said the National Professional Officer of the World Health Organisation, Cherian Varghese, here today.

Speaking at a "Quit Smoking and Awareness Camp'' organised by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here on the occasion of "World No Tobacco Day,'' Dr. Varghese said a survey of 400 Indian films had revealed that 75 per cent of them had scenes of the hero smoking rather than the villain. "The one-minute message by film stars to stop tobacco use is having little impact.''

``WHO has started 12 clinics in association with the Union Government and is working on two aspects — controlling supply and controlling demand. We are ready to work with Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in this regard,'' said Dr. Varghese.

According to WHO, smoking is responsible for 90 per cent of lung cancer deaths, 75 per cent of chronic obstructive lung disease, 45 per cent of all cancers and 20 per cent of deaths due to cardiovascular disease.

There are nearly 1.1 billion smokers across the world and 80 per cent of them in the developing countries. India reports a total of 240 million smokers and out of them 194 million and 45 million are men and women, respectively. Children account for a total of five million.

``Tobacco has spread like an epidemic in the last half-century and mostly all diseases are linked to tobacco,'' said P.K. Khanna, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

More than a hundred people who took the anti-tobacco pledge attended today's camp. A special attraction of the camp was the burning of a 15-foot high effigy of a cigarette to highlight the bad effects of tobacco.

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