Youth Warned About Tobacco/Cigarette Smoking

Contact: Dana Augustin

Thursday, May 31, 2001 – Dozens of adolescents packed the Castries City Council today, to attend a youth symposium organized by the Ministry of Health in observance of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31.  Aimed at secondary school students, the initiative was geared towards educating them about tobacco and also to warn them of the health risks involved with cigarette smoking.  The theme was “Second Hand Smoke Kills, Let’s Clear the Air.”   

The Ministry of Health is targeting the nation’s youth recognizing that most adults who smoke began smoking as teenagers.  According to Health Educator Sonia Alexander, in the world today more than six thousand children smoke their first cigarette each day.  She says, “It’s not unusual because it happens in St. Lucia too.”

According to Alexander, health officials are currently on a mission to ascertain exactly what the situation is in St. Lucia.  She says, next week the Ministry of Health will be carrying out a survey on tobacco, for primary and secondary school students, aged twelve to fifteen.  The survey will help them to determine among other things, those adolescents who are smoking and also what measures the ministry must take to address the problem.

Sonia Alexander told the youth that smoking is not illegal.  But she also stressed that children should not be allowed to purchase cigarettes.  She says the ministry is very concerned about this issue, but because the law does not protect children here from purchasing cigarettes, it is widely up to parents and adults to prevent this from happening, by setting the example.

 “I think it should be the responsibility of parents and adults to make sure that children do not get their hands on cigarettes.  Do not send them to buy your cigarettes – buy them yourselves because they will be tempted to pattern themselves off you,” said Alexander.     

Health Officials, she noted are continuing to educate the public about tobacco and its harmful effects felt all over the world.

Quoting from health reports of the World Health Organization (WTO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Alexander said, “Today more than three million children collectively smoke about one billion packs a year.”  She added,  “Of children who smoke 3 to 4 cigarettes a day, 75% will become addicted.”

She mentioned that tobacco is the most devastating cause of death in the world today.  Tobacco contains over 4000 known chemical compounds and forty-three known cancer causing agents.  The main ingredients found in tobacco that make cigarette smoking dangerous include nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide.   

Alexander reported that worldwide the death toll of persons who die from cigarette smoking is about 3 million a year.  In North America more people die from second hand smoke each year than the actual smokers themselves.  43,000 people are killed from smoking cigarettes while 53,000 die from second hand smoke each year in North America. 

In the Caribbean tobacco is grown chiefly in Jamaica and Cuba.  It is estimated that about 10,000 to 20,000 people will die this year from illnesses caused by tobacco use.

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