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40 per cent men and 8 per cent women in Pakistan are regular smokers
“As many as forty per cent men and eight per cent women in Pakistan smoke regularly,” Professor Javaid Khan, Consultant Pulmonologist and Head Section of Pulmonary Medicine, Aga Khan University (AKU) shared the findings of a survey at a Continued Medical Education seminar at the University in Karachi. While tobacco use is declining in most other countries of the world, sadly it is on the rise in Pakistan. “If we don't take any action, the current global death toll of five million per year from tobacco use will increase to 10 million per year by 2025. In Pakistan, estimated 100,000 people die every year from Tobacco related diseases,” he warned.
Educating the public on tobacco and its hazards is the first step for tobacco control in any country but unfortunately marketing and advertising budget of tobacco companies in Pakistan is far greater than the total budget on health promotion by the Government of Pakistan.
Dr Muhammad Irfan, Consultant Pulmonologist, AKU said that tobacco advertising has been shown to have strong influence on children and teenagers. Most countries have completely banned tobacco advertising in order to discourage the youth from taking up smoking. He said that tobacco dependence is generally under treated. People trying to quit should use medications in conjunction with as much counseling as possible.
The benefits of quitting smoking with the participants was discussed by AKU's Consultant Pulmonologist Dr Ahmed Suleman Haque. By quitting smoking, the risk factors for lung cancer, heart attacks as well as several other fatal diseases are also decreased. Quitting smoking also improves the quality of life.
Dr Nisar Rao, Assistant Professor, Dow University of Health Sciences discussed how chest X-ray and histopathological reports deceive treating physicians if due considerations are not given to the clinical presentations. All laboratory reports should be critically analysed whether they match to the patients' symptoms, if not then either the tests should be repeated or other tests should be advised accordingly. He cautioned “Do not treat TB on just chest X-ray findings.”
Dr Asif Imam, Consultant Immunologist, AKU talked on practical approach to respiratory allergic diseases. He mentioned different trends of asthma more specifically, burden of allergic respiratory disease in Sindh.
AKU regularly organises CME seminars and workshops for referring physicians. These programmes are designed to provide a current and practical update on the management of medical problems faced by primary care physicians and specialists.
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