AMA seminar warns of the hazards of consuming tobacco

Recognised globally as the World No Tobacco Day, May 31 is a day meant for creating and intensifying awareness on the hazards of tobacco usage. The Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA), in association with Family Clinic, organised a seminar at the AMA Hall on Friday, where eminent city doctors spoke on the harmful effects of smoking.

Cardiologist Dr Narendra Rawal, speaking on tobacco and lung diseases, said that the consumption of tobacco accounts for a large percentage of heart ailments, lung diseases (chronic bronchitis), hip fractures and cataract. Moreover, smokers are at a higher risk of developing pneumonia and other airway infections.
Rawal further said that people are often seen turning to cigarettes in times of stress, depression and financial problems, among others.

This year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has used this day to highlight particularly, the negative impact of smoking on women, and the condition of women working in tobacco manufacturing units. With the theme for this year's World Tobacco Day being 'Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing for women', AMA also focused on the latter.

Dr Pragnesh Vastraranjani, senior medical practitioner and vice president of AMA, said, "A pregnant smoker is at a high risk of delivering her baby too early and/or at an abnormally low weight. A woman who smokes during or after her pregnancy increases her infant's chances of death from the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). "

In Ahmedabad, around 8,000 to 10,000 people die every year, due to consumption of tobacco by both chewing and smoking. Figures reveal that around 20 per cent of cancer cases in the city are due to tobacco, and in a lot of cases, the victims are passive smokers.
Apart from the seminar, the AMA will also organise a week-long exhibition of pictures and designs on various harmful effects of tobacco, staring from Tuesday. The exhibition will be held across various private clinics in the city at Shastri Nagar, Isanpur, Maninagar, Sabarmati, Chandkheda and Vejalpur. The demonstration will consist of pictorial health warnings, a scorpion, an X-ray image of diseased lungs, and a coloured picture of diseased lungs.