World No Tobacco Day

This is Public Health

World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed around the world every year on May 31. This day of observance is meant to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco products and it is also intended to draw global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and its negative health consequences.

The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created WNTD in 1987 to help bring light to this most preventable cause of illness and mortality. According to the WHO, tobacco use is "One of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced." The WHO attributes one in 10 deaths per year worldwide to tobacco use, which is currently about 5.4 million, and by 2030, is expected to rise to eight million. WNTD is meant to raise awareness about the health risks associated with tobacco and to advocate for better policies in reducing consumption worldwide.

This year the theme is "Gender and tobacco" with an emphasis on marketing to women. While the epidemic of tobacco use among men is in slow decline in some countries (including this one), use among women in some countries is increasing. In the eyes of the tobacco industry, women constitute a market with room for expansion.

Advertisements falsely link tobacco use with female beauty, empowerment and health. They also lure men and women with such misleading identifiers, such as "light" or "low-tar." More women than men smoke "light" cigarettes, often in the mistaken belief that "light" means "safer." On World No Tobacco Day 2010 and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to pay particular attention to protecting women from the tobacco companies' attempts to lure them into lifetimes of nicotine dependence.

Groups around the world, from local clubs, to city councils, to national governments, are encouraged to organize events each year to help communities celebrate World No Tobacco Day in their own way at the local level.

Here in the Mission Valley, on May 26, Ronan Middle School students participated in a walk to the Spring Creek Native Plant Garden to learn the difference between traditional and commercial tobacco. The Native Plant Garden, named "R-Garden" was designed and constructed in May 2009 by Ronan Middle and High School students. The purpose of R-Garden is to display indigenous plant species used for medicinal, decorative and edible purposes by local tribes.

Students in grades six through eight heard presentations on the various native plants in the garden and their uses, including several used as "tobacco" in traditional or ceremonially ways. These native plants were contrasted with commercially grown tobacco, with all of its harmful chemical additives, along with the concept of occasional, yet purposeful use versus habitual use.

Hopefully, the students came away from the presentation with an idea that these traditional plants, when used occasionally and with specific purpose, have their virtues; but, like with so many things, if abused - that is, used habitually like commercial tobacco often is, it becomes an unhealthy, dangerous addiction.