'Tobacco major factor for heart diseases, strong law must to check fatalities'

Tobacco consumption is a major risk factor for not only cancer but also cardiovascular diseases experts warned on World Heart Day on Thursday and demanded early passage of the COTPA Amendment Bill to ban pointofsale advertisementsThe draft Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act Amendment Bill also proposes banning public designated smoking zones to ensure a healthy and fit IndiaThe theme for this years World Heart Day is Use Heart for Every HeartAt a webinar organised by public health platform Tobacco Free India Dr Uma Kumar head of the Department of Rheumatology AIIMS highlighted the link between tobacco and cardiovascular diseasesTobacco is the worlds leading cause of death responsible for 44 per cent of all fatalities caused by noncommunicable diseases or 179 million deaths annually she saidAlso read World Heart Day 2022 Why you need to take your heart health seriouslyTobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke are major causes of cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks and stroke contributing to approximately 3 million deaths per year worldwide Dr Uma Kumar saidIf all the political parties reach a consensus on the progressive COTPA amendments at the earliest we will be saving millions of youth from falling into the trap of harmful tobacco products she saidNoting that India is the second largest producer and consumer of tobacco that claims nearly 13 lakhs lives annually BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modis guidance has adopted a zerotolerance policy against the hazardous productHe enlisted several tobaccocontrol measures taken by the government in the last few years including banning ecigarettes and printing big pictorial warnings on tobacco productsInterventional cardiologist Dr Sekhar Kashyap spoke about the multiple heart health risks associated with tobacco like peripheral vascular disease in the blood vessels that supply blood to arms and legs and abdominal aortic aneurysmPointing out that deaths due to tobacco consumption are just the tip of the iceberg Productivity and economic loss due to tobacco usage are enormous he saidDr Kashyap said that since the industry is working in realtime to influence the youth through innovative ways like introducing synthetic nicotine which is out of legal purview there is a need to tighten the noose against the players by bringing amendments in COTPADesignated smoking zones should be completely banned In fact by allowing such zones we are promoting smoking Its like their existence is sending the message that it is ok to smoke By banning these places we will help smokers curb their habit he assertedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever