Comprehension: The Dangers of Smoking

In 1970, the World Health Organization recommended that all countries should discourage smoking in hospitals, public transport, and public places, and reduce cigarette advertising, with a view to its eventual elimination.

                   We may ask, why this WHO recommendation? The answer is that smoking can be literally a matter of life or death to the smoker and, moreover, has proven harmful effects upon the health of even the non-smoker, not the least the unborn child.

                   At present, there are far more deadly diseases in Nigeria than those caused or aggravated by smoking. But, with increased leisure, a rising standard of living, and an ever larger proportion of people living in towns, more Nigerians are likely to be tempted to take up smoking. Thanks to research in our universities and teaching hospitals, the ravages of endemic tropical diseases are being stemmed. So, unless we take the right steps well ahead of time, the relative importance of tobacco-related diseases such as lung-cancer diseases will increase. And, once again, as so often in history, the indigenousAn indigene is a person, animal, or plant that is native or original to a particular area or region; basically, it refers to someone or something that originates or is naturally... More diseases of an area will have been brought under control only to be succeeded by those of a technologically more advanced civilization.

(Source: NOSEC (old Edition) Bk. 4, pp. 91-92)