Tobacco Awareness

Prevalence of tobacco consumption among youths

in slums and communities in Sierra Leone is on the increase. Knowledge about the the negative effects of tobacco consumption is not well understood in slum illiterate communities which poses a major challenge in restraining the practice of smoking among these set of youths. However, many have tried to quit smoking but the syndrome of addiction has a major role in these setbacks of such decisions, because they cannot find close substitute that will give the desired effect at the same cost, although there are successful stories about people who have overcome and quit smoking.

  • Tobacco companies have formulated other tobacco regimen that will decrease the exposure to burdensome disease indications like cancer which is associated with combusting tobacco in the form of tar but the availability of such substitutes like nicotine gums are much more expensive in Sierra Leone. 

There is no policy that governs the consumption of smoking cigarette in Sierra Leone, there is a freelance model of smoking people can smoke everywhere with potential to recruit partial smokers in the process.

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Our Aim

What Can We Do To Stop Tobacco

In a bid to reduce the harmful indications of tobacco consumption in Sierra Leone social media, blogs and websites can play a major role in reducing the practice of tobacco consumption and creating awareness with the use of constantly engaging posts or updates that counsels about tobacco harm, effects and possible risk factors that could lead to other life-threatening conditions and about the dangers that surrounds consumption of combusting tobacco which is the major risk factor of diseases.

Overview

About Tobacco

Overview The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 8 million people a year, including around 1.2 million deaths from exposure to second-hand smoke (1). All forms of tobacco are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco. Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use worldwide. Other tobacco products include waterpipe tobacco, various smokeless tobacco products, cigars, cigarillos, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidis and kreteks. Over 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest. Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco. The economic costs of tobacco use are substantial and include significant health care costs for treating the diseases caused by tobacco use as well as the lost human capital that results from tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality.