Yet despite massive public education efforts, many smokers seem uninformed on the harm caused by tobacco use. According to a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, only 29 percent of smokers thought they had an above-average risk for heart attack compared with their nonsmoking peers, and only 40 percent felt they had an increased risk of developing cancer. COPD is generally indicated by severe breathlessness, prolonged coughing with phlegm and irreversible lung damage caused by chronic bronchitis and emphysema, or a combination of the two. COPD is mainly caused by smoking, and it has no cure. Clearing the air WNTD 2001 will focus on the theme of secondhand smoke, a key issue in tobacco control, as a means to mobilize in taking real actions to clear the air.
Secondhand smoke is a significant threat to public health.
Supported by two decades of evidence, the scientific community now agrees that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoking has been causally associated with a range of life-threatening health effects, including lung cancer and heart disease. For children, the situation is particularly disturbing, as involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke has been identified as a cause of respiratory disease, middle ear disease, asthma attacks, and sudden infant death syndrome. Tobacco smoke is also an important source of indoor air pollution, contributing to a noxious environment, and causing eye irritation, sore throat, cough and headache. The gains of quitting The simple act of quitting tobacco use results in substantial savings through unbought tobacco products and lowered health care costs.