“FIGHT smoking with your pens…convince the world that the pen is mightier than the smoke,” Terrence Esseboom urged media operatives on Tuesday as he declared opened a Sensitisation Workshop on the Tobacco Control Act at the Grand Coastal Hotel.

Esseboom – a communication lecturer at the University of Guyana and Head of the Public

Health Ministry’s Public Relations and Health Promotion Unit – said it is time all journalists, photographers, and videographers join the fight.

“In the anti-tobacco fight, media messages must be short, clear and well-studied. We want you ensure that your ‘well-studied’ messages are emotionally stimulating without being sensational,” Esseboom said.

In presenting much needed facts on the negative impacts of smoking, the Public Relations Coordinator pointed out that on a yearly basis millions of persons die as a result of tobacco smoke.

“Globally, one person dies every six seconds from tobacco use: that’s 10 persons every minute or 600 persons per hour which is 14, 400 per day or 432,000 per month. At this rate some 5,184, 400 will die from tobacco use every year. Almost 900,000 of those deaths are from second hand smoke (SHS),” he pointed out.

In addition to the yearly deaths, millions of persons develop diseases and disabilities as a result of tobacco smoking and second hand smoking.

“For example, workers exposed to tobacco smoke on a regular basis have a risk of cancer that is between 7 and 700 times higher. Children exposed to SHS suffer from a wide range of ailments including acute respiratory diseases, bronchitis and pneumonia, while adults will contract cancer of the lung and oral/nasal cavity; breast cancer in young, primarily pre-menopausal women, heart disease and heart attacks,” he further pointed out.

In moving forward, Esseboom argued continuous surveillance must remain on the front burner as the country moves to put a comprehensive ban on advertising which globally shows that the measure helps lower consumption.

Hefty taxation on the industry must be instituted, he lamented, noting that this measure will undoubtedly discourage tobacco use. “Guyana has one of the lowest taxation on tobacco and this is unfortunate,” Esseboom noted while reiterating his call for the media to aggressively and continuously raise awareness on the aged old matter.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry’s Chronic Non Communicable Diseases Coordinator, Dr. Kavita Singh reported that tobacco use is a significant burden to the health sector, nationally and globally.

In making her case, Dr. Singh told the media operatives that tobacco use is one of the four major modifiable risk factors that cross cuts each of the four major groups of NCDs: cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic lung diseases, and diabetes. She said the situation is further compounded by the fact that NCDs account for 70% of premature mortality in Guyana.

Dr. Singh said in 2016, Guyana for the first time completed the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise (STEPS) Survey to determine how risk factors are compounding the nature of NCDs in the country.

It was explained that STEPS is a simple, standardized method for collecting, analyzing and disseminating data on NCDs and risk factors. Data are collected on the established risk factors and NCD conditions that determine the major NCD burden, including tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity, overweigh and obesity among others.

The survey was conducted between September and October of 2016, during which 3,456 households were targeted during the first two phases. The overall response was 77% for steps 1 and 2 and 40% for step 3.

According to the survey, 26.6% of men, 3.3% of women, and 15.4% overall were current smokers of tobacco. It was also noted that 6 in 10 current smokers tried to stop smoking in the last 12 months while 3 in 10 current smokers were advised by a health care provider to stop smoking in the last 12 months.

Alluding to the Guyana 2015 Country Report – Global Youth Tobacco Survey, Dr. Singh pointed out that one in every three students had used tobacco products at some point while almost one in every six students currently used tobacco products.

Dr. Singh noted that the situation is further compound when persons consume excessive alcohol and smoke tobacco. “Compound with smoking it is disastrous,” she lamented.

Given the situation, the Ministry from September, 2017 would roll out a comprehensive National Community Strategy to combat the trend of tobacco smoking. PAHO/WHO National Consultant, Attorney at Law Kesaundra Alves; and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle were among those present in addition to media operatives from Guyana Chronicle, Stabroek News, the National Communications Network (NCN), the Department of Public Information (DPI), and Nightly News among others.