By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
Smoking is set to cause a cancer epidemic in the developing world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Latest statistics show that over 43 percent of cancer patients are addicted to tobacco while heavy smoking has also been attributed to kidney diseases.
National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) chairman Prof. Carlo Fonseka said that every second, six persons in the world died of tobacco smoking.
According to the WHO statistics smoking-related diseases kill 4 million people a year worldwide and that number will increase to 10 million a year in the next 25 years.
Though the government earns 12 percent of its income from tobacco and alcohol taxes it its expenses on patients affected by tobacco and alcohol related diseases constitutes 22 per cent of its expenditure, an Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) official said.
According to the National Cancer Hospital records, nearly 20,000 persons die of lung and oral cancers annually in Sri Lanka.
Records reveal that a majority oral and lung cancers result from tobacco smoking.
According to the WHO forecasts, smoking could become the world’s No. 1 killer over the next 20 years, causing more deaths than HIV, tuberculosis, road accidents, murder and suicide put together and 85 percent of all smokers will come from the developing countries by the mid 2020’s.
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