Top News

Amidst the modern lifestyle, increasing pollution and uncontrolled eating habits, many such silent health risks hover around us, which we often ignore considering them trivial. One such deadly and invisible threat is spreading inside our homes these days, which is not only causing death to the person who smokes but also to the innocent people living around him. The recent medical and public health statistics are extremely scary. According to a new and comprehensive research published in the prestigious medical journal 'The Lancet Public Health', an alarming and shocking jump of about 50 percent has been recorded in the number of deaths due to second-hand smoke i.e. 'Passive Smoking' in India in the last three decades i.e. since 1990. If someone in your house also consumes cigarette, beedi or tobacco and you yourself are away from these drugs, then this news is a big warning for you because this poisonous smoke spreading in the air without taking a single puff is proving to be a silent killer for you. Let us know in detail how this silent danger of passive smoking is hollowing our country and society. Report of 'The Lancet Public Health': More than three lakh innocent lives are being lost every year in India. The figures that have come out regarding the increasing danger of passive smoking are enough to make anyone deeply worried. According to the report, in the year 1990, a total of 2,17,700 deaths were recorded in the country due to passive smoking, which increased continuously with time and by the year 2023, this terrible figure increased to 3,25,600. This simply means that within just one year, more than three lakh people in India lost their precious lives against their will, without smoking a cigarette, just by being exposed to the smoke exhaled by others. After China, if any country in the world is facing the biggest brunt of passive smoking, it is India. At present, a large part of the total population of the country i.e. about 44.4 crore people are forced to live under the direct influence of this poisonous and deadly smoke. Why has the number of affected people increased, what do the data of three decades say? It is very interesting and important to understand that even though the overall rate of exposure to smoke may have decreased slightly in the last few years, yet why the number of patients affected by it and losing their lives is continuously increasing. According to the report, the rate of exposure to passive smoking has decreased from 43.2% to 30.6% in the last three decades, but due to the rapid increase in the country's population, the total number of people affected has registered a huge increase of 18.4%. While during the year 1990, 37.5 crore people in the country were affected by this poisonous smoke, in the year 2023 this number has directly increased to 44.4 crore. This dangerous situation has posed a huge challenge to the public health infrastructure of the country, where people are unknowingly forced to live under the shadow of death every day. Both men and women are becoming victims of this silent poison. This serious health crisis has not spared any section of the society, and both men and women are paying a heavy price for it. If we look at the figures, between 1990 and 2023, the number of deaths due to passive smoking among women has increased from 1,13,400 to 1,56,900. On the other hand, the situation is no less dire in the case of men, where this figure has jumped from 1,04,300 to 1,68,700. Due to this silent and invisible threat, India has lost approximately 92.8 lakh healthy life years by 2023 alone. When a person smokes inside the house, the smoke released by him mixes with the air of the room and reaches the lungs of the entire family, due to which the illusion of the house being safe starts breaking and the members of the house become vulnerable to serious diseases. Lung expert Dr. Dhruv Anand's warning: This poison is hollowing out every part of the body. According to Dr. Dhruv Anand, a well-known respiratory and sleep medicine expert from Fortis Hospital, Noida, considering passive smoking as merely 'coming in contact with a little smoke' is the biggest and fatal mistake. This smoke is not only an eye irritant, but it also has a deep, lasting and adverse effect on your heart, lungs and blood vessels of the body. Scientific studies make it completely clear that due to exposure to second-hand smoke, the risk of incurable and fatal diseases like stroke, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ischemic heart disease, breast cancer, type-2 diabetes and severe asthma increases manifold. When another person smokes a cigarette, the side-stream smoke released is more poisonous, which goes inside the body of the person standing or sitting nearby and licks his immune system like a termite. Children, elderly and sick people are the easiest and most sensitive victims of this poisonous smoke. Dr. Dhruv Anand clearly believes that when someone smokes in closed rooms of the house, then the innocent children present there, the elders of the house, pregnant women and patients already suffering from any heart or respiratory disease become the easiest and most sensitive victims of this poisonous smoke. Since the lungs and respiratory system of small children are not yet fully developed, they are most at risk of serious problems like lower respiratory tract infection and pneumonia due to this smoke. Apart from this, the weakening physical capacity of the elderly is unable to bear this shock, due to which their breathing becomes labored and they die prematurely. Even at the global level, the situation is very worrying, half of the population is confined to three big countries. Not only in India, but at the global level too, this problem of passive smoking has taken a huge form. If we look at the global data for the year 2023, about 2.71 billion people across the world were directly exposed to second-hand smoke. This resulted in a total of 16.6 lakh people losing their lives across the world and a massive loss of approximately 4.48 crore health years. The most shocking thing is that almost half of the total affected population around the world is limited to only three big countries i.e. China, India and Indonesia. If strict tobacco control measures are not taken in time in these densely populated countries of Asia, then this crisis may take a more frightening form in the coming days. Prevention is the only solution: Make your homes and indoor spaces 100% smoke-free The only and most effective way to avoid this deadly and silent menace is to spread awareness and take strict measures. Expert Dr. Dhruv Anand advises that every person should make his house, his car and any type of closed indoor space 100% 'smoke-free' i.e. completely smoke-free. If someone has to consume cigarette or tobacco, he should always do so outside the house in the open air so that other family members do not come in contact with this poisonous smoke. Moreover, those who themselves are victims of smoking addiction should take a firm resolve to quit this deadly addiction today for the long life, good health and happiness of their beloved children, spouse and other family members. A small precaution and change on your part can gift a safe and healthy life to your entire family.