Shisha inhalation for the past 20years has become common especially among the youth with the mistaken belief that once the toxins contained in shisha when passed over water before it is inhaled, becomes safe devoid of health risks.
Speaking in Bolgatanga at a Regional meeting on advancing tobacco control enforcement in Ghana, Dr. Mrs. Olivia Agyekumwaa Boateng, Head of the Tobacco and Substances of Abuse Department of the Food and Drugs Authority(FDA), warns the youth to cease and desist from the use of shisha because it is not an alternative to cigarettes.
Educating the general public, she said, globally tobacco kills more than 8 million people perennially. Of which more than 7 million of these deaths are as a result of direct tobacco use while 1.2 million are due to non-smokers who are exposed to the smokers, she revealed. Smoking Shisha increases our risk of heart and circulatory diseases she added.
She said according to the World Health Organization(WHO), globally more than 80 percent of 1.2 billion tobacco users live in Low and Middle-Income Countries where the burden of tobacco-related illness is higher.
Representing the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs, the Paramount chief of Kologo Traditional Area, Naba Clifford Asobayire V, disclosed to the Ghana News Agency after the meeting how they condemn the use of tobacco and other addictive substance among their youth.
He also added that the Region’s House of chiefs would collaborate with key stakeholders in the Region to their subjects to make sure that the use of tobacco is drastically mitigated if not terminated.
Source: Adom Online
