Sad statistics have emerged with regards to smoking which is silent killer. Yes, smoking kills one person every six seconds, five million people die every year, and ten million people lost their lives due to smoking in the 20th century."

The shocking data was presented by the Caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs  while addressing an event to educate children about the effects and harms of smoking.  If it continues to be used in the same way, by 2030 the number of people killed will reach 8 million.

He described the increase in tax on tobacco as necessary to discourage it, adding that like environmental destruction, smoking is also a threat to human lives.

This warning of the federal minister is no doubt completely in line with the facts. According to the World Health Organization, not only smokers suffer from lung cancer, heart disease and mental illness, but every year more than 600,000 people suffer from serious problems due to exposure to cigarette smoke. While smoking in children is even more harmful. In this context, it is very worrisome that the trend of smoking among children in the country is continuously increasing. According to a previous report by WHO, the number of children between six and twelve years of age who smoke cigarettes in Pakistan is increasing by 1200 every day. It is the inevitable responsibility of the concerned authorities to take immediate and effective measures to end this situation.

Increasing taxes alone is not the solution to ending smoking, which has cost millions of lives, but a progressive move towards a gradual ban on the industry is essential. As far as TB is concerned, a decade ago, Pakistan was ranked sixth in the list of TB-affected countries, but since 2014, it has been consistently ranked fifth, with more than 50,000 new cases reported every year.

The death rate due to it is the highest compared to other diseases. These statistics are very alarming and require the concerned agencies to engage in effective campaign. TB is an infectious disease and the germs released from the patient's cough are transmitted to nearby people through inhalation and infect the lungs, resulting in persistent fever, loss of appetite, weight loss and malaise.  For the diagnosis of the disease, the patient's sputum test and lung X-ray report are considered to be the most suitable to guide the doctors. Medical experts call it 100% curable. People suffering from lack of nutrition and immunity are prone to TB and these two factors i.e. complete diet and immunity are also helpful in its recovery, however, the exact use of medicines prescribed by the physician as per the instructions given. It is inevitable. The number of people living below the poverty line, which was 33 percent two years ago, has crossed 40 percent due to the ever-increasing inflation.

Many families are forced to live in one-room houses without air and light. In rural areas, sheep and other domestic animals are also kept there. According to the World Health Organization, TB has become a major cause of death in the world.  Organizations working against TB mostly focus on the treatment of the patient. However, other factors are equally important for disease eradication and a healthy society. After the confirmation of the health department in Sindh province that the number of malaria patients has more than doubled this year compared to the last two years, dengue has also started to raise its head for a few days.

According to official statistics, 31,000 cases of malaria have been reported in Hyderabad division alone during August, while 828 dengue patients have been brought to hospitals in recent days, but no death has been reported.  Malaria and dengue fever are caused by the bite of two different species of mosquito. Ignorance, climatic conditions, lack of sanitation and lack of preventive measures in rural areas lead to breeding of all kinds of mosquitoes.  Malaria and dengue tests are expensive and beyond the reach of the poor. This is why malaria is called a disease of the poor.  Meanwhile, cases of dengue fever are increasing rapidly in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal capital Islamabad, and the coming month are likely to increase and spread. A minimum of mosquito repellent should be used. The specific dengue mosquito lays its eggs in clean water, so clean water containers in homes should be well covered to prevent the breeding of this mosquito. Before the situation gets out of control, the provincial health departments and the local bodies should take concrete steps to tackle malaria and dengue with immediate attention.  It is very unfortunate that despite serious efforts, we are unable to eradicate the serious diseases from our society. On the one hand, the news regarding polio re-emergence are circulating while on the other spread of TB is making rounds on social media. Moreover, the fact that diseases such as polio, which have become extinct worldwide, have not been eradicated in Pakistan, is indeed a very sad matter.  On this, another heartbreaking news has come out that every year about 3 thousand children are diagnosed with blood cancer in the country. This was revealed by health experts in a press conference organized by a pharmaceutical company and the Karachi Press Club.  He said that early diagnosis of the disease is necessary for complete treatment and it is very important to establish medical centers in the country equipped with all required facilities in which patients can be fully treated because they have to face serious side effects of medicines.

The problem is that there is no accurate data about blood cancer in Pakistan. No cancer registry system has been established at the local level, so the available data is not enough to assess the exact situation.  It has been reported that drug availability is not a major problem in the case of blood cancer, the real challenge is in dealing with health complications that may arise during and after treatment.

Most types of cancer are related to environmental factors. Causes can be the use of harmful chemicals and smoking. Fortunately, cancer drugs are now being developed in the country, but we do not have the practice of doing medical check-ups on a monthly or quarterly basis and the doctor is consulted when the disease takes root. The current demand is that the health department and the education department should be obliged to conduct a medical check-up of every child under a joint campaign, but a complete check-up should be made mandatory along with the application for the "B" form of the child.  So that any complication can be treated immediately.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 09 2023

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