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Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and respiratory diseases are among the major health and development challenges of our time, affecting both developed and developing countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that NCDs are responsible for 41 million deaths worldwide each year, with 85% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

5 essential lessons about tobacco everyone should know | Pulse Ghana

Zoe Geissler

<p>In Ghana, NCDs account for about 45% of all deaths. Major risk factors include unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/world/smoking-ban-to-protect-children-comes-before-uk-parliament/9pc1npr">tobacco use.</a></p>

<p>According to the <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/sites/default/files/2024-11/GHANA%20STEPS%20REPORT%202023.pdf">Ghana Steps Report 2023,</a> smoking rates in Ghana (4.8% among adults) are lower than the global average of around 20%. Ghanaian men smoke more (9.3%) than women (0.3%), with women preferring to smoke shisha. No matter the form, the effects of smoking tobacco are severe. Here is why.</p>

<h3>Fewer Taste Buds: Foodies, Beware!</h3>

<p>Smoking doesn’t just smell bad; it can also ruin your sense of taste. By reducing blood flow to your taste buds, smoking can impair or even kill them. <em>This means that smoking makes everything taste a little… well, bland.</em></p>

<h3>Smoking and Romance: Erectile Dysfunction</h3>

<p>Smoking isn’t just bad for your taste buds; it’s tough on your love life too. It affects blood vessels throughout your body, including those that supply blood to the penis, which can lead to erectile dysfunction in men. <em>If you are planning on having a big family, remember that smoking can also affect your fertility.</em></p>

<h3>Wrinkles and Grey Skin: The Ultimate Anti-Skincare Routine</h3>

<p>If you are investing in skincare but lighting up a cigarette or inhaling from a shisha, you might be cancelling out your efforts. <em>Smoking prematurely ages the skin, causing facial wrinkles and perhaps even that dull, greyish skin tone.</em> The more you smoke, the greater the risk of trading your glow for wrinkles.</p>

<h3>Health Risks Galore: Cancer, Strokes, and More</h3>

<p>It’s no secret that smoking is linked to serious health risks. <em>Smoking can increase inflammation in your body and weaken the immune system.</em> It also raises the likelihood of stroke and contributes to various types of cancer, including lung, mouth, kidney, and breast cancer.</p>

<h3>Tobacco Farming: Hard Work, Low Pay, and Health Hazards</h3>

<p>Smoking is not only harmful to smokers. Tobacco farming poses serious risks to farmers and their families.</p>

A woman harvests tobacco from the fields of Little Knots farm, in Norton, Zimbabwe. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

<p>According to a WHO report in 2023, the area under tobacco cultivation dropped by 15.8% globally from 2005 to 2022, but increased by almost 20% on the African continent. Tobacco farming is labour-intensive and exposes farmers and their families to serious health risks. According to the <em>Tobacco Atlas</em>, in many countries, tobacco farmers—both independent and contracted by tobacco companies—earn less than needed to support a household.</p>

<p><em>So, while smoking may look a bit cool in the movies, in real life, it’s an all-around bad deal.</em></p>

Symbolic picture of woman smoking. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

5 essential lessons about tobacco everyone should know

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