Say ‘No’ to tobacco
It is normal to feel sad, stressed, confused, scared or angry during a crisis. But people should never use smoking, alcohol or other drugs to deal with emotions.
Manjari Peiris-Wednesday, April 1, 2020
The public including the Government Medical Officers’ Association and the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol have made requests to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the closure of liquor shops to prevent people from consuming alcohol and to ensure that public discipline is maintained during this outbreak and in a period where continuous curfew is imposed.
We have to thank the President for his deep commitment to protect the people of this country and Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and the Task Force to combat COVID - 19, the Government Medical Officers’ Association and Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa, the Chairman of the NATA for making their contribution and the prudent decisions taken.
The Head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme has noted that smoking is a risk factor for the severity of any lower respiratory tract infection and the same would be expected in COVID 19, a respiratory disease. Having had identified smokers as a potential vulnerable group for COVID - 19, health experts have subsequently called for outright quitting of smoking in Indonesia (WHO), Israel (Israeli Medical Association for Smoking Cessation and Prevention), Japan (Tokyo Medical Association), Ireland (Health Service Executive), and South Africa (National Council Against Smoking (NCAS).
Here is what the WHO had to stay about smoking and COVID-19: “Smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 as the act of smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth. Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.
Smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings.
Conditions that increase oxygen needs or reduce the ability of the body to use it properly will put patients at higher risk of serious lung conditions such as pneumonia.”
Increasing evidence is suggesting that smokers are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 than those who don’t smoke. One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February looked at 1,099 patients in China with COVID-19, showing that of 173 patients who had severe symptoms, 16.9% of them were current smokers and 5.2% had previously smoked. Among the patients with less-severe symptoms, 11.8% were current smokers and 1.3% former smokers.
More worryingly, the study showed that in a group of patients that either needed mechanical ventilation, admission to an intensive care unit, or ultimately died, 25.5% were current smokers, which was more than twice the rate of current smokers in a group of patients that did not have these severe adverse outcomes. Studying other coronavirus outbreaks provides further suggestions that smokers may fare worse with these types of viral infections than non-smokers. In a study of a small number of patients with Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, patients who smoked were less likely to survive than those who did not.
There is a long history of smokers having more severe respiratory illness in general and this is for a few well-established reasons. They clear mucus less efficiently, the cilia which get infectious particles and secretions out of the lungs, work less efficiently. Smoking also causes inflammation in the airways, which is made worse with respiratory illnesses. In Sri Lanka, 60 people die a day due to tobacco smoking associated disease.
The President should ban sale of cigarettes during this crucial period and help save Sri Lankans.
Manjari Peiris-Wednesday, April 1, 2020The public including the Government Medical Officers’ Association and the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol have made requests to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the closure of liquor shops to prevent people from consuming alcohol and to ensure that public discipline is maintained during this outbreak and in a period where continuous curfew is imposed.
We have to thank the President for his deep commitment to protect the people of this country and Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and the Task Force to combat COVID - 19, the Government Medical Officers’ Association and Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa, the Chairman of the NATA for making their contribution and the prudent decisions taken.
The Head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme has noted that smoking is a risk factor for the severity of any lower respiratory tract infection and the same would be expected in COVID 19, a respiratory disease. Having had identified smokers as a potential vulnerable group for COVID - 19, health experts have subsequently called for outright quitting of smoking in Indonesia (WHO), Israel (Israeli Medical Association for Smoking Cessation and Prevention), Japan (Tokyo Medical Association), Ireland (Health Service Executive), and South Africa (National Council Against Smoking (NCAS).
Here is what the WHO had to stay about smoking and COVID-19: “Smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 as the act of smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth. Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.
Smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings.
Conditions that increase oxygen needs or reduce the ability of the body to use it properly will put patients at higher risk of serious lung conditions such as pneumonia.”
More worryingly, the study showed that in a group of patients that either needed mechanical ventilation, admission to an intensive care unit, or ultimately died, 25.5% were current smokers, which was more than twice the rate of current smokers in a group of patients that did not have these severe adverse outcomes. Studying other coronavirus outbreaks provides further suggestions that smokers may fare worse with these types of viral infections than non-smokers. In a study of a small number of patients with Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, patients who smoked were less likely to survive than those who did not.
There is a long history of smokers having more severe respiratory illness in general and this is for a few well-established reasons. They clear mucus less efficiently, the cilia which get infectious particles and secretions out of the lungs, work less efficiently. Smoking also causes inflammation in the airways, which is made worse with respiratory illnesses. In Sri Lanka, 60 people die a day due to tobacco smoking associated disease.
The President should ban sale of cigarettes during this crucial period and help save Sri Lankans.
