No Tobacco Day Rally Held For 7 Consecutive Years In Thailand

[Lite Beer]

No Tobacco Day rally held for 7 consecutive years in Thailand

BANGKOK, 29 May 2011 (NNT)-The Ministry of Public Health has launched the 7th walk rally against smoking on the occasion of the World’s No Tobacco Day on 31 May every year.

According to the Ministry, from 1991 to 2002 the number of smokers in Thailand has declined steadily. The Public Health Ministry has coordinated with the Medical Association of Thailand and related agencies in organizing a walk rally with an aim of promoting the health of Thai people.

Permanent Secretary for Public Health, MD. Paijit Warachit said the slogan for this year focuses on making the Thai society free of smokers. It has been 7 consecutive years for Thailand to hold the rally.

Thailand has also urged the international community to campaign for the same event this year. The number of smokers has declined by approximately 2 million people from 1991 to 2009 with more female smokers quitting smoking compared to male smokers.

-- NNT 2011-05-29

[sirchai]

The number of smokers has declined by approximately 2 million people from 1991 to 2009 with more female smokers quitting smoking compared to male smokers.

Guess all smokers will quit smoking one day....................:jap:

[SunsetT]

So why is tobacco still being grown commercially in Thailand? It is being grown all along the Mekong between Nakhon Phanom and That Phanom and Mukdahan.

.....................better than opium poppies I suppose!

[samurai]

got confused. first read it as:

No "tobacco day rally" held for 7 years.

[Bosse137]

If they could convince the many thousands of monks to join in and quit smoking,that would set a good example for others and have a huge impact on the statistics.But I guess that`s just a pipedream....

[samurai]

If they could convince the many thousands of monks to join in and quit smoking,that would set a good example for others and have a huge impact on the statistics.But I guess that`s just a pipedream....

pipe dreams about stop smoking?

[OZEMADE]

Yeah they are coming off the smokes and getting on the Grass and pills.

[Bosse137]

Congrat. samurai,you got my little joke!!

[samurai]

Congrat. samurai,you got my little joke!!

I know some weed heads who swear that never ever any tobacco would come into their pipe. For them its a sacrilege to mix the things.

And in the Netherlands it's a law: Dutch smoking ban: No tobacco in your joints, cafes ordered

[webfact]

Thank you for not smoking

By Parinyaporn Pajee

The Nation

Today is World No Tobacco Day and if you're still puffing away, it's the perfect occasion to kick the habit

After two attempts to quite smoking ended in failure, 62-year-old businessman Jirameth Chanasakul finally managed to give up cigarettes in 1995. Nine years later, he was diagnosed with third stage lung cancer.The first signs that all might not be well were the spots of blood that appeared whenever he coughed. He also tired easily and felt short of breath. The doctor told him it was probably emphysema or lung cancer - both smokingrelated diseases.

Jirameth recalls that his immediate reaction was that he'd prefer lung cancer over emphysema, as dying from cancer would be less painful for his family than having to take care of someone with a chronic illness. Doctors were initially unsure they could help him as the bleedฌing was continuous and the tumour was in a part of the lung that made treatment difficult. Fortunately, the bleeding was stopped, he underwent a full course of treatment and he is now cancer free.

But not every smoker will be as lucky as Jirameth. He'd smoked for 24 years, and says he chainsmoked for many of them. He has no doubt that his cancer was caused by cigarettes.

People who smoke are at least 10 times more likely to die from lung cancer than nonsmokers, even if they only smoke a few cigarettes per day. In Thailand, 99 per cent of lung cancer patient are smokers while 30 per cent suffer from second hand smoking.

Emphysema and lung cancers are the most common diseases directly associated with smoking. But the habit is almost cerฌtainly responsible, to a greater or lesser degree, for other cancers including of the throat, voice box, mouth, oesophagus, kidฌney, stomach, pancreas, bladder and cervix.

And even though everyone knows that smoking is bad for their health and the World Health Organisation campaigns harder every No Tobacco Day, people conฌtinue to smoke and new smokers adopt the habit everyday.

"Thai smokers get through at least one packet of cigarettes a day and lung cancer is the second cancer found among Thai men. It's in the top five cancers diagnosed in women," says Jirameth.

According to the National Statistical Office and the Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre (TRC), Mahidol University, smokฌing among Thais from 1991 to 2007 has shown a decrease, going from 12.26 milฌlion people in 1991 to 10.85 million people in 2007. But in recent years, there's been a worrying rise in the number of young Thai smokers aged from 11 to 24 years, with the figure going from 1.5 million in 2007 to 1.7 million in 2009.

"They're influenced by friends and the media to try smoking. They think it will get them accepted not that it may lead to a lifethreatening disease later in life," says Dr Chatchai Koowattanapaisan, head of the Cancer Centre at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital.

Thailand has been nationally and interฌnationally recognised as a nation that's been successful with tobacco control, through such strict policies as banning smoking in public areas and prohibiting cigarettes from being showcased visibly in shops as well as on television.

"We should have campaigns all the year round instead of just today. As a doctor, I come in during the final act, dealing with patients who are sick from smoking. The country wastes billions of baht on medical treatment for patients who are ill from smoking. I hope that the authorities will come up with stronger strategies, someฌthing that mirrors the actions we have taken against alcohol," says Chatchai.

About 600 Thais quit smoking every day - that's about 200,000 people a year and more than 80 per cent do it by themselves. For those who need encouragement, policies are continuฌously being approved to prevent people from lighting up.

Last month, the Ministry of Public Health passed a law that prohibits misฌleading advertising, such as the use of the words "light" or "mild", which insinuate that the cigarettes are less harmful, as well as "cool", "ice" and "mint", which could attract young smokers. Also banned are the words "special" and "premium".

"Fighting with powerful global tobacco companies is not easy but we must take a stand against smoking," Chatchai says.

Some countries like England are refusฌing to cover the medical costs of patients suffering from smokingrelated diseases while Finland is attempting to pass a law that will phase out smoking entirely withฌin the next 30 years.

Jirameth tried to quit in 1984 and again 1989 and both times went back to the dreaded cancer sticks. In 1995, he had more luck, forcing himself to stay away from any stimulating factors, drinking lots of water and going out to exercise whenevฌer he wanted to smoke.

"We know that cigarettes are dangerฌous, but we don't think about lung cancer or emphysema or a heart attack when we light up. I thought about them all once I was diagnosed with cancer but by then, it was too late," says Jirameth. Stub it out

- Want help quitting? Call the quitline at 1600 or visit www.ThailandQuitLine.or.th.

- Her Royal Highness Princess Somsawali presides over World No Tobacco Day activities at Siam Paragon's Lifestyle Hall, with miniconcerts and exhibitions from 11 to 7.

- Siriraj Hospital has exhibitions from 8.30am to 3pm, including a talk on how to quit smoking at the 100 Years of the King's Mother Hall.

- The Action on Smoking and Health Foundation of Thailand holds an exhibition for Smoke Free Teen on the ground floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre with activities from youth networks, including Silpakorn University students and the Cigs Buster Club.

-- The Nation 2011-05-31