KATHMANDU, May 31: May 31 is celebrated as World No Tobacco Day.

According to WHO, World No Tobacco Day 2018 will focus on the impact tobacco has on the cardiovascular health of people worldwide.

Tobacco use is an important risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.

Despite the devastating harms of tobacco to heart health, and the availability of solutions to reduce tobacco-related death and disease, knowledge among large sections of the public that tobacco is one of the leading causes of CVD is low.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) kill more people than any other cause of death worldwide, and tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure contribute to approximately 17% of all heart disease deaths. Tobacco use is the second leading cause of CVD, after high blood pressure.

The global tobacco epidemic kills more than 7 million people each year, of which close to 900 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke. Nearly 80% of the more than 1 billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.

World No Tobacco Day 2018 aims to:

• Highlight the links between the use of tobacco products and heart and other cardiovascular diseases.
• Increase awareness within the broader public of the impact tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke have on cardiovascular health.
• Provide opportunities for the public, governments and others to make commitments to promote heart health by protecting people from use of tobacco products.
• Encourage countries to strengthen implementation of the proven MPOWER tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC.

 
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