Every year, over 100,000 people lose their lives due to smoking. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın, President of the Turkish Anti-Smoking Association (TSSD), highlighted the individual and societal impacts of smoking in a statement made on February 9, World No Smoking Day.

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın stated, “Smoking affects not only the smoker but also the people around them negatively. Passive smoking is a major public health issue, and 25,000 people die each year due to reasons related to passive smoking.” He also emphasized the importance of combating smoking, noting that children of smoking parents face increased risks of developmental delays and cancer.

“Smoking is a significant burden economically and health-wise”

Prof. Dr. Aydın pointed out with striking data that smoking causes serious losses not only in health but also economically. “Approximately $20 billion is spent on smoking each year. The treatment costs of diseases related to tobacco use account for 9% of health expenditures. The smoking age has dropped to 13, which increases the risk of disease at an early age. This situation once again highlights the need for increased societal awareness in the fight against smoking,” he said.

“Passive smoking leads to serious health issues”

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın indicated that cigarette smoke contains many toxic substances, including arsenic, ammonia, cadmium, tar, naphthalene, lead, and cyanide. “Scientific findings show that inhaling these chemicals leads to heart attacks, strokes, osteoporosis, and various types of cancer,” he said. He emphasized that passive smoking particularly triggers respiratory diseases and that increasing smoke-free areas would help reduce this risk.

“Smoking also threatens the environment”

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın stated that smoking causes significant harm not only to human health but also to the environment. “We know that cigarette butts take 14 years to decompose in nature and negatively affect plant growth by 50%. Reducing smoking to prevent environmental pollution is a responsibility for both our world and future generations,” he said.

“Effective and comprehensive programs should be implemented for solutions”

Offering solutions for effective anti-smoking efforts, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın suggested, “Mandatory awareness programs could be implemented in schools and throughout society to explain the harms of smoking. Cigarette sales could be controlled with stricter inspections, and bans in enclosed areas could be monitored more effectively. Strict regulations could be enacted against subliminal messaging and encouraging content on social media. Environmental projects could be launched to reduce the harm caused by cigarette butts to nature, and punitive measures could be increased,” he concluded.