ISLAMABAD: More than seven million tobacco consumers die across the world every year, and the figure could rise to eight million by 2030 without intensified action, a doctor said at an event held to mark World No Tobacco Day at the Shifa International Hospital on Wednesday.

`Tobacco use is a threat to any person, regardless of gender, age, race, cultural and educational background. It brings suffering, disease and death, impoverishing families and national economies, consultant pulmonologist Dr Sohail Naseem said.

Dr Naseem said smoking causes an estimated 90pc of all lung cancer among men and 80pc of all lung cancer among women in Pakistan, and claims the lives of 100,000 people every year. Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 chemicals, of which 250 are known to be harmful to humans and 70 are carcinogens. Over 600,000 non-smokers die every year from second-hand smoke around theworld and a third of them are children, he added.

In his closing remarks, he said tobacco is the singlelargestpreventable cause of death in the world today.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the NHS ministry and the World Health Organisation, State Minister of National Health Services (NHS) Saira Afzal Tarar said tobacco consumption has devastating health consequences and is a major barrier to development. She said tobacco worsens poverty, damages health and causes great social, economic and environment harm to the Pakistani community and the rest of the world.

She also said this year`s World No Tobacco Day campaign is focused on development, and there is a link between the consumption of tobacco products, tobacco control and sustainable development.

She said more than seven million people die from tobacco use every year around the world, including 900,000 people who die from exposure to secondhand smoke.

She said over 80pc of these deathsoccur in low or middle income countries.

The minister said that in addition to health costs, the country`s economy also suffers when sick or dying smokers cannot work. She said the prevalence of smoking is greater among men who are less educated and from a low income background.

She said the NHS ministry is committed to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and added that the ministry has faced criticism after the introduction of another tier for taxes on cigarettes that would make cigarettes cheaper.

Effects of smoking on health highlighted The District Health Authority on Wednesday organized an awareness programme in connection with `World No Tabaco Day` to highlight the lethal effects of smoking on health.

Health managers and other officials concerned from all tehsils of district Rawalpindi attended the programme.

The participants of the programme were briefed about the initiatives beingtaken by primary and secondary health care department of Punjab to check smoking.

While addressing the event, Dr. Abdul Jabbar, District Health Of ficer, said that observing world no tobacco day was aimed at drawing the attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and its negative health effects.

He said that theme opted for this year says `Tobacco A Threat to Development` which clearly tells that tobacco consumption not only risks the health of an smoker but it threatens the development process of a country as healthy society is surely the basis of developed society.

Sensing its responsibility, he said that Punjab government had opted different initiatives and setting up of `non-communicable diseases` desk in 40 hospitalsin currentñscalyear201617 is one of them however it will be expanded to 90 hospitals by next year, he shared.

He said that along with this, training session will also be organised for the staff of this programme at tehsil level.