Smoking can be a real drag

Christopher Pike / The National

With the World Conference on Tobacco or Health set to be held in Abu Dhabi for the first time from March 17 to 21, what better time for smokers to consider kicking the habit? According to the World Health Organisation, 30 per cent of the global population smokes, much to the detriment of their health. We’ve put together a list of facts and where to turn for help in the hope that some might be persuaded to butt out for good.

THE BURNING FACTS

• Smoking kills one person every six seconds.

• Tobacco is responsible for 30 per cent of all cancer-related deaths.

• Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals.

• Studies have shown that quitting at about age 30 reduces the chances of dying from smoking-related diseases by more than 90 per cent.

• According to the World Health Organisation, there are now more than one billion smokers in the world.

• On average, smokers die 14 years before non-smokers.

• Up to half of tobacco users will die of a tobacco-related disease.

• Six million people in the world die every year as a result of smoking.

• About 600,000 non-smokers die every year from exposure to second-hand smoke.

• The younger children are when they first try smoking, the more likely they are to become regular tobacco users.

• In the UAE, it is illegal to smoke in a car with a child under 12, to sell cigarettes to those under 18, and to advertise or promote tobacco.

• The illicit tobacco market accounts for one in every 10 cigarettes consumed globally.

• In the UAE, 19 per cent of men smoke cigarettes several times a day compared with 4 per cent of women.

• Research shows that smokers are less likely to seek cigarettes if the packaging is plain.

• In the UAE, 25 per cent of 14- to 25-year-old males are now tobacco smokers, with more girls smoking shisha pipes than cigarettes.

• In a one-hour shisha session, a user gets as much carbon monoxide as from 150 cigarettes, and as much tar as from 600 of them.

• The price of one packet of Marlboro cigarettes in Dubai is Dh9, while in Australia, a pack is 16.11 Australian dollars (Dh46) and in the United States it costs US$6 (Dh22).

• The three main components in cigarette smoke are nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide.

• By 2030, 70 per cent of tobacco-related deaths will be in low- and middle-income countries.

Statistics: World Health Organisation, UAE Ministry of Health, tobacco.org, Executive Office of the Gulf Health Ministries, Dubai Health Authority

WHO CAN HELP YOU QUIT

• I Quit Smoking, www.iqs-uae.com, 04 354 2777

• Dubai Health Authority, www.dha.gov.ae

• Dubai Hypnosis Centre has therapists available at www.hypnosisdubai.com/quit-smoking, 050 327 1739