Smoking kills over 13 thousand Cubans a year

HAVANA, Cuba, May 31 (acn) The Head of the Department of Non Transmittable Diseases of the Cuban Health Ministry, Orlando Landrove said on Monday in Havana that over 13 thousand people die each year on the island due to smoking and children are the most exposed to the smoke of cigarettes or cigars.

The specialist warned during a television appearance on the daily informative program The Round Table that this addiction constitutes a mental ailment that kills over 6 million people each year in the world of which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) over 600 thousand die as passive smokers.

Dr. Landrove warned that over 50 illnesses are associated with cigarette and cigar smoking among them, lung, larynx, mouth and pharynx, breast, kidney and bladder cancer while the children of smoking mothers are more likely to suffer from respiratory ailments.

Dr. Patricia Varona, sepecialist of the National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, highlighted that Cuba has strong epidemiology vigilance due to the contribution of three studies from 1985 to 2010, resulting in a decrease in the presence of smokers but in the last 6 years the figures change.

An increase in the frequency of smokers in Cuba is observed since 2010 mainly in young people, said the health specialist.

The specialist warned on the danger of smoking and the most frequent ailments related to the addiction among them, respiratory, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes and reiterated that it's a non-genetic ailment that reduced the life expectancy.

Varona explained that Cuba´s rate of smokers has decreased but there is a hike in younger ages and that is why authorities must create strategies to achieve an adequate control in the compliance of regulations.

With the current tendency of starting at an earlier age and on the occasion of World Smokeless Day held on May 31st, the specialist warned on the need to promote efficient policies to reduce the number of smokers.

The health authority pointed out that 15 percent of the deaths in Cuba is produced by smoking while almost 1 thousand 500 people die each year by the smoke exposed by those addicted.

Cuba is fifth in Latin America and the Caribbean in the number of smokers and is the 10th cause of death on the island, 8 of which are linked with the addiction constituting a challenge for the population and the health authorities.

Dr. Elba Lorenzo, national coordinator of the Smoke Prevention and Control Program warned on the economic causes of the addiction, and imposes on society expenses related with the assistance of health care.

The participating experts that attended the Round Table coincide that smoking is a problem of public health and is translated in the negative impacts that only fall on the health of the smokers but also the different costs for the individual and family earnings.