Every puff on a cigarette pushes a smoker towards his death!

This is with reference to the article ‘If you have a heart, say no to tobacco!’ by Dr. Gotabhya Ranasinghe (The Island 2nd June 2023) I fully agree with the learned doctor since deaths due to smoking are usually not reported in the press and smokers don’t realise the gravity of this habit.

Globally, tobacco use killed 100 million people in the 20th century. It is supposed to be more than the combined casualties in the two World Wars. Everyone born in this world is bound to die one day or the other. It is only the causes of death that vary but the health issues a smoker has to face are unbearable. Tobacco related deaths, it is expected, will reach the one billion mark in the 21st century if the current smoking patterns continue.

Famous American television personality and renowned cardiologist Dr. Oz once said ‘I don’t operate on smokers. I tell cigarette smokers I can operate on you. I get paid the same. And you might even do well. But it’s the wrong thing to do. So, I refuse to operate on you until you stop smoking.’

The famous Russian-American film actor, Yul Brynner, who died of lung cancer caused due to smoking in 1985, made a video message from his deathbed. In that video he said ‘Now that I am gone, I tell you don’t smoke whatever you do!’ I wonder how many smokers did take this message seriously? Smoking is a silent killer or another form of suicide.

S. H. Moulana