|
Words Of Wisdom by Prof B. M. Hegde
More Facts on Tobacco Smoke
Despite the fact that lot of education of the public has been going on against the dangers of smoking, there are still a lot of smoking related health problems in society. Even if all people stop smoking we will have the ravages of the past smoking in those who have smoked for some years still creating health related social maladies. What is happening in the world is really shocking. In USA alone in the year 1995, more than 4,00,000 people have died of tobacco related diseases like, lung cancer, emphysema, and heart diseases. The total cost of all these including the disability benefit will come to whopping sum of 30 billion dollars.
The following facts may not be known to the general public.This was revealed by a recent survey done in that country. They are:
- 75% of those who smoke started smoking before the age of twenty.
- 90% of them tried to quit many times unsuccessfully.
- Only 2-3% of them are able to quit per annum.
- Smoking among women has not come down as much as it did among men.
- Since 1965 the adult smoking rate among men has come down by 46%, but it has come down by only 31% among women.
- Teenage girls believe that smoking is the best way to keep trim.
- Past two decades, on an average ,3000 American adolescents become regular smokers every day.
- Adolescents are not ignorant of the dangers of smoking; still they smoke.
- 82% of the American adolescents admitted, in a recent survey, that they are aware of the dangers of smoking.
- Children (12-15) know that more than 80% of those who smoke cigarettes eventually smoke marijuana and are more likely to take to heroin and cocaine.
- Children there are better educated about the dangers of smoking than the adults.
- The reasons for smoking as given in the survey are:
- Friends use them.................31%
- Out of curiosity....................29%
- To be cool...........................15%.
Despite these data why do children smoke in America? The answer is very simple. The impact of the tobacco companies advertisements is so great that all the knowledge that the youngsters get from the different sources has not been able to counter the same.
The tobacco companies had it very good with the children there. Every year cigarettes worth a billion dollars is sold to about 3 million of them. They smoke on an average half a packet a day. ( 10 cigarettes) The leading advertisements in America are the following:
The sexy Virginia Slims advertisement.
The healthy outdoor style of Newport.
Alive with pleasure of Newport.
The macho Marlboro man.
Fun loving Joe Camel.
Groups of friends guys and gals having fun together smoking etc.
These advertisements are so powerful that teenage girls in America want to stay trim despite the fact that they may get dangerous diseases later in life. Cigarette advertisements portray attractive thin women as successful professional with handsome men. The best advertisement is the picture of a thin model smoking with the following caption." A woman’s place is any place her feet takes her". This is supposed to portray smoking as a symbol of female independence, rebellion, achievement, and sexuality!!
This kind of advertisement has produced these dramatic figures of female smoking in that country. Between 1967 and 1973 girls rate of smoking has gone up 110% in the 12-17 age group. Death rate due to tobacco related lung cancer has gone up 500% among female smokers between 1960 to 1980. Another aspect of this kind of advertisement is seen in the differential rates of smoking between black and white girls there. Since the black girls do not consider thinness as a very important aspect of beauty their rate of smoking has not kept pace with the white girls there, stressing again the role of the advertisements.( Black 4.4%-white 23% ).
Another area where the tobacco companies are trying to hook the youngsters is in the area of sporting activity which is another craze with children. Under the guise of altruistic sport support, tobacco companies pour in their money to advertise in sporting activities like foot ball, tennis, and cricket. Our politicians also encourage this and so do the cine stars. The trick of the trade is to catch the children young so that they get longer periods of smoking per person before tobacco smoke eventually kills them. It is more profitable for the companies if a child starts to smoke compared to a forty year old man starting. The child in the example is likely to smoke for a longer time before dying thereby getting the company better returns for their investment. This is the basis of investing money in sports activities.
The above data is collected from the recent surveys in the USA. The data is very relevant to us today, as the scenario in our country, at the moment, is very bad with all these companies making a foray into the arena in a big way. Let us wake up before it is too late to do something to counter this kind of propaganda.
|
