Environmental and Public Health - Assignment Example

While these data are already alarming, one must note that these statistics only reflect deaths due to active tobacco smoking. If we account for deaths due to environmental (or secondhand) tobacco smoking, then the figures will increase. For example, in a WHO research published in 2004, it was discovered that over 600,000 deaths were due to secondhand smoking. 28% of those deaths involved children.

Moreover, smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for miscarriage, sudden infant death, and respiratory illnesses in infants such as pneumonia and bronchitis (Jenkins, 2010). It is also associated with lower birth weights and slower development of the child. It also worsens asthmatic symptoms among children (San-in Research Group, 2009). WHO says: “There is no safe level of second-hand tobacco smoke” (2011). To prevent what they call the epidemic of tobacco-related illnesses, governments must enact laws to protect the public from inhaling environmental tobacco smoke.

In 2005, the organization ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which became one of the most widely embraced treaties in the world today. It has 170 signatory countries and it aims at monitoring tobacco use, providing assistance to smokers who wish to quit the addiction, and educating individuals regarding the dangers of tobacco smoking, to name a few. In a study conducted in 2003 (Scollo), it was found that very few people understand the dangers of tobacco smoking. By interviewing people in China, the study discovered that only 37% of smokers understand that smoking increases the risk for coronary heart disease while less than 10% knew that it can cause a stroke (Scollo, 2003).

The good news is that among smokers who are aware of the health risks of smoking, a majority want to quit. To increase awareness about tobacco smoking and associated health risks, the WHO conducts the World No Tobacco Day, with varying themes every year.