When Aamir Khan talked about snubbing the stub after his son, Azad’s birth, he inspired many more to do so. Afterall, smoking kills and most often, it is the motivation from the near-dear ones that help you quit. WHO quoted an alarming death figure due to tobacco consumption–more than 7 million death around the year every year.

“According to World Health Organisation (WHO), Tobacco consumption remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming about six million lives each year and is estimated to reach eight million a year by 2030. Tobacco consumption has major impact on a person’s health and can damage various organs of a body. Smoking contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including over 70 which are known to cause deadly cancer. Smoking is the main cause for heart attacks, brain strokes and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPDs). Chain-smokers are at the highest risk of getting impacted by these ailments,” says Dr Arun Kumar Giri, Senior Cancer Surgeon and Director (Oncology Services) at VPS Rockland Hospital.

Nowadays consumption of tobacco among women is increasing. India is home to the third largest number of female smokers after the United States and China according to The Tobacco Atlas released by The American Cancer Society. “It is a new fad. For many of my friends, smoking happened in college. It is in college that most people try out smoking, drinking–it is the independence of a college life that encourages women to try out new things. And smoking is regarded as a very cool things,” says Sandhya Vijaykumar, Student, Christ College. “Some women smoke to control body weight. However, this tendency is extremely harmful for women and their coming generations. Women smokers pose greater risks of ovulation problems, damage to reproductive organs and premature menopause. This may lead to increased risk of miscarriages, premature birth and low birth weight babies,” explains Dr Arun. He adds, “Tobacco consumption is a big concern for the country, impacting the health and well-being of the population. We untidily need to eliminate the menace of tobacco addiction to ensure a healthy environment for our present and future generations”