IF YOUR "FRIEND" BETRAYS YOU…

What happens if you close someone's eyes, ears and nose, put gloves on them and then give them a cigarette? Such an experiment was carried out on the Soviet TV programme "The Obvious and the Improbable", presented by the legendary scientist Kapitsa. The experiment on an inveterate smoker stuck in my children's mind and has stayed with me ever since. What happens to a person who is well acquainted with cigarettes but who has long forgotten the pleasant sensation of smoking? - a dizziness and tickling in the throat, if you deprive him, while smoking, of the main sources of information from the outer world: sight, hearing, smell and touch. You won't believe it, but the long-time smoker, isolated from the outer world, almost lost consciousness after just one puff. His hands sweated and he lost his bearings. This was a demonstration of the violence that a smoker commits on his own body by smoking a cigarette under normal conditions - with his eyes, ears, and senses of smell and touch fully engaged. I don't remember who conducted this experiment, but it was a stroke of genius. I think many of those who saw it stopped smoking. In any case, I would like to think so.

"The maxim of this tale…"

We don't have to say that the deadliest habit of all time is dependence on tobacco. Do I have to list all the diseases that might affect a smoker? Do I have to say that a smoker's life is cut short by 10 or even 20 years? It is curious that the experiment conducted on the programme "The Obvious and the Improbable" was not supported by doctors, who keep talking about the danger of smoking. Everything was clear anyway. Jokes like "The Health Ministry warns…" or "If you don't drink and smoke, you will die healthy" stop when a smoker falls ill - he immediately forgets all about joking. Some stop joking completely when they have their hands and feet amputated due to blood circulation abnormalities in their extremities - sometimes all four at once. How do you live with that?

Smoking is a chronic disease which has been included in the international statistical classification of diseases, injuries and causes of death. Every year smoking claims millions of lives around the world, and the battle against it has become a serious social problem. In the 20th century, diseases caused by smoking claimed more than 100 million lives. However, there is a view that it is not only the fault of imprudent people. The American press has said that the growth in the army of smokers is deliberately provoked by tobacco producers. For example, at the end of the last century experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) acquired documents that shed light on the secret activities of the world's tobacco manufacturers.

The WHO published a report accusing these companies of trying to deliberately undermine its anti-smoking efforts. It seemed that these companies had drawn up a programme that is still active. One of the main directions of the "tobacco kings'" plot was an advertising campaign in developing countries. Since Europe and the USA have decided to "quit" smoking, this meant that inhabitants of third world countries had to be taught to smoke. Nowadays up to 60 per cent of men and 10 per cent of women in developing countries are smokers, although 40 years ago there were almost no women smokers in Asia and Africa. Tobacco advertisers thought that if you presented the cigarette as a symbol of women's independence and liberation from many centuries of social oppression, this would work. And it did.

Adverts place cigarettes alongside fit-looking beauty queens and sportswomen. Seeing them, a young girl does not fear that the cigarette may kill her ahead of time. This is happening at a time when industrially developed countries spend more than 200 billion dollars per year on the treatment of diseases caused by smoking. While Europe and the USA smoke less and less every year, we smoke more and more. According to the WHO, the number of women smokers in Azerbaijan is between 2 and10 per cent and men between 40 and 60 per cent. Experts note that the number of smokers is on the increase, especially among teenagers. In Azerbaijan, there are 3.2 million smokers, although we do not have that much money to spend on treatment.

The ELS centre for independent research published some interesting information recently. With the support of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the centre launched an anti-smoking campaign "Don't say no to your future, health and welfare". During the campaign, the centre conducted a poll among 800 young people, most of whom are teenagers, schoolchildren and students. 59.1 per cent of respondents were men and 40.9 per cent were women. The poll showed that 34.5 per cent of respondents were smokers. 46.6 per cent of them were men and 17.1 per cent women. Compared to last year's figures, the number of women smokers had almost doubled. Most of the respondents (63.3 per cent) had a negative attitude towards smoking. 26.5 per cent said they were indifferent to smoking, and only 9.9 per cent of respondents viewed it positively. About 88.3 per cent believe that tobacco is bad for people. However, these figures do not reflect the real state of affairs.

Counterfeit tobacco…

According to a study conducted by the Union of Free Consumers, with the support of the WHO, about 60 per cent of tobacco products in Azerbaijan have no licence, about 90 per cent of cigarettes have passed their sell-by date and 25 per cent of tobacco on sale in Azerbaijan is contraband.

Although Azerbaijan has joined the WHO framework convention on the fight against smoking and has adopted the law "On tobacco and tobacco products" which bans the sale of individual cigarettes near medical and educational institutions, in fact these laws and conventions are not being observed. Some countries have banned the advertising and sale of tobacco to children and smoking in public places and on transport. Officially, tobacco advertising was banned several years ago in Azerbaijan. However, all of us encounter hidden tobacco adverts in the form of sponsored participation in entertainment, sports and other public events. This is seen in music video clips which often feature Azerbaijani show business stars with cigarettes of well-known brands. Cigarettes are still being advertised on cellophane packing, which is also banned. The most terrifying thing is that there is even chewing gum in the form of cigarettes for children. It would be relevant to cite Australia's experience. Over there smoking and drinking in the street is banned and there are many adverts about the dangers of smoking and alcohol. Alas, there is nothing like that in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, to the list of violations on the tobacco market should be added the fact that filterless cigarettes are still available in Azerbaijan, although the Cabinet of Ministers has issued a resolution banning their production and import. All cigarettes on sale in Azerbaijan must show the date of production, the date of expiry, the manufacturer and the address of its office and factory. These provisions are often ignored.

Once more on the dangers of smoking 

It is well known that packs resembling an original product may contain cigarettes which have many more cancerous substances and 160 per cent more pitch, 80 per cent more nicotine and 133 per cent more carbon monoxide. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical substances, more than 40 of which cause cancer, as well as several hundred poisons, including nicotine, cyanide, arsenic, formaldehyde, carbonic gas, carbon monoxide, prussic acid, etc. Tobacco smoke also contains radioactive substances: polonium, lead and bismuth. It affects the respiratory organs first of all. Smoking causes 98 per cent of deaths from cancer of the larynx, 96 per cent of deaths from lung cancer and 75 per cent of deaths from chronic bronchitis and lung emphysema. Tobacco causes most damage to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and, finally, it is a factor in the appearance of cancerous tumours.

Smokers are four or five times more likely to suffer myocardial infarction than non-smokers. If a smoker has a high level of cholesterol and high blood pressure, the risk of him developing a heart attack increases eightfold. In 2000, smoking caused 30 per cent of deaths among men aged between 35 and 70 in developed countries. 

In 1993, Azerbaijan joined the European strategy on the fight against smoking. In 1995, upon the recommendation of the WHO, the Ministry of Health set up a coordinating council to combat nicotine. The council's working group is currently developing an anti-smoking programme on the basis of WHO proposals. It provides for measures to reduce the number of smokers among teenagers, to educate them and take rehabilitation measures to reduce their dependence on tobacco.