Tobacco related morbidity in a Pakistani population and its implications for control

ABSTRACT

To assess the prevalence of Tobacco consumption and the magninude of Tobacco associated diseases [TAD] in a Pakistani population. Study design: A community based Trohoc study of 135 randomly chosedn households of a Kutchi abadi in Karachi. Subjects: Three hundred thirty four respondents, comprising of all household members, male and female, above15 years of age. all were interviewed and examined, by a team of doctors and medical students. 62% males and 13% females gave history of voluntary exposure to Tobacco. 44.4% of these respondents showed signs and symptoms of Tobacco associated diseases, compared with 24% of passive smokers and 21.5% of non-smokers. 71.2% of all TAD's were related to respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The median age of all respondents was below 50 years, about a decade earlier than the age reported for the various Tobacco related Cancers. If Health Education campaigns emphasize on the long term suffering that these diseases are liable to cause, rather than on early death and suffering due to lung cancers, it has a better chance of being accepted by the young smokers, whereby reducing both Tobacco associated diseases and the incidence of Tobacco related Carcinoma's