31/07/2022
Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body.
More than 20 million Pakistanis are living with a disease caused by smoking. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious smoking-related illness. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.
Passive smoking exposure contributes to approximately 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults and 400 deaths in infants each year. Passive smoking causes stroke, lung cancer, and coronary heart disease in adults. Children who are exposed to passive smoking are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth.
