Non-smokers exposed to cancer-If they patronise smoking areas (Back Page)

Saturday 30-05-2009



RESEARCH conducted by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has confirmed that non-smokers who patronise places where smoking is allowed are exposed to hazardous chemicals and cancer-causing agents in the tobacco smoke.
The study revealed that nicotine, a chemical dangerous to humans, settled on bodies and hairs of non-smokers who patronised such places.
The research further established that ventilation venues at such places, which include casinos, nightclubs and drinking spots, did not make any change in the risk associated with smoking and its effect on non-smokers.
The study, which focused on "Assessing the Levels of Secondhand Tobacco Smoking (SHS) Exposure in Selected Places in Ghana" was conducted by Dr Wilfred Agbenyikey of the Framingham Heart Study in the United States of America ( USA) and Mrs Edith Koryor Wellington of the GHS.
Presenting a paper at a day's seminar in Accra by the GHS, Dr Agbenyikey said although all the smoking venues where the study took place had ventilation systems, 96 per cent of them had dangerous particulate matter higher than the recommended World Health Organisation (WHO) level.
Consequently, participants in the seminar organised on "Banning Smoking in Public Places" renewed calls for laws to ban smoking in public places in order to protect non-smokers from tobacco-related diseases.
According to the WHO, second-hand smoking, also known as environmental tobacco smoke, is a complex mixture of more than 4,800 chemical compounds that include 69 cancer-causing agents that could cause non-smokers to suffer diseases, disability, and death.
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, the Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, said it was unfortunate that the Ghanaian public was not yet fully aware of the severity of the health hazards posed by tobacco use.
He pointed out that one of the cost-effective tobacco control strategies was population-wide public policies such as bans on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, tobacco tax and price increase, smoke-free environment in all public places and workplaces and large and clear graphic health messages on tobacco packaging.
For his part, Dr Benjamin Apelberg of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA said there was evidence that people who lived in tobacco-free environment had health benefits.
Touching on the WHO's Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control (FCTC), the focal person on tobacco control at the WHO Country Office in Ghana, Ms Sophia Twum-Barima, said Ghana stood to gain if it complied with the WHO recommendation and ban public smoking.
The chairman for the function, Mr Samuel Anku, who is also the Director, Intersectoral Network Division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reiterated that tobacco was the world's leading killer.
He said there was no doubt that those exposed to second-hand smoke were also at risk of cancer and other serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases especially on children.