World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), observed every year on 31^st May comes up with a global awareness campaign -- envisaging a particular theme as suggested by World Health Organization (WHO).The theme for this year's (2023) global campaign is titled "We need food, not tobacco" -- to raise awareness about alternative crop production and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers and encourage them to grow sustainable, nutritious crops. The theme also aims to address the emerging global concern of food insecurity driven by tobacco growing and production.

Apart from acknowledging the primary theme, the day aims to raise public awareness about the environmental impact of the entire tobacco cycle right from its cultivation, production and distribution to the toxic waste it generates. The day also envisages a strong message to people to make a sincere commitment on completely abstaining from smoking tobacco in any form.

As per recent data by WHO, across the globe around 3.5 million hectares of land are converted for tobacco production each year, besides that growing tobacco also contributes to deforestation of around 2 lakh hectares of land per year.

As per a statement from WHO, tobacco growing is resource intensive and requires heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, which contribute to soil degradation, besides that the land used for tobacco growing has a lower capacity for growing other crops, such as any food -- since tobacco depletes soil fertility. And, compared with other agricultural activities such as maize growing and even livestock grazing -- tobacco farming has a far more destructive impact on ecosystems as tobacco farmlands are more prone to desertification.

One of the importantnegative impacts of tobacco growing and production is that it exacerbates food insecurity -- which is emerging as a global issue of social cum public health concern -- that needs serious attention and redressal. While food is one of the most essential requirements for the sustenance of human life, there are millions of people worldwide who couldn't afford a healthy diet and fulfill the need for regular access to nutritious food.

The developmental, economic, social, and medical impacts of the global burden of food insecurity are serious and lasting for individuals, families, communities and countries. Having said, unhealthy diets and poor nutrition are among the top risk factors for diet-related non-communicable diseaes including cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, and diabetes. 

One of the important consequences of rising food insecurity is the development of malnutrition in general and undernutrition in particular - in all its forms (includingwasting, stunting, underweight, inadequacy/deficiency of vitamins and minerals).

While every country in the world is affected by one or more forms of malnutrition - the major impact is found to occur in middle and low income countries, including India. As a result, combating malnutrition in all its forms is becoming one of the serious global health challenges. Undernutrition makes children in particular much more vulnerable to disease and death.

Generally speaking, all age groups are at risk of malnutrition -- women, infants, children, and adolescents. Poverty amplifies the risk - people who are poor are more likely to be affected by different forms of malnutrition. Moreover, malnutrition increases health care costs, reduces productivity, and slows economic growth, which can accentuate a cycle of poverty and ill-health.

Secondly, the most disastrous consequences of tobacco growing and production are its associated health risks directly or indirectly. For example, the intensive handling of insecticides and toxic chemicals during the cultivation of tobacco is attributed to cause ill health among many farmers and their families.

Smoking tobacco poses multiple health risks to human body and development of multiple disease conditions, besides posing a threat to living beings around us, including the environment we live in. And smoking tobacco is the crucial cause of diseases of almost every organ system of the human body most common being lung cancers, stroke and heart diseases, including other lifestyle diseases. We could see rising incidence of such medical conditions nowadays -- one of the prominent risk factor being smoking tobacco. 

More importantly, exposure to second-hand smoke raises the risk -- by as much as 30 percent -- that others will get lung cancer and many other types of cancer, besides pose a risk for development of heart diseases. Moreover, chewing tobacco use is also a risk factor for the development of oral cancers , gum disease, tooth decay and tooth loss, and have possible links to other cancers as well.

To address the problem, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control offers specific principles and policy options on the promotion of economically viable alternatives for tobacco workers, growers and individual sellers-- to move into the production of alternative sustainable food crops, and on enhancing protection of the environment and the health of people.

Moreover, the campaign focuses on to acknowledge governments and policy-makers to step up legislation, develop suitable policies and strategies, and enable market conditions for tobacco farmers to shift to growing sustainable food crops that would provide them and their families with a better life. And, the land used to grow tobacco could be more efficiently used to achieve United NationsSustainable Development Goals like SDG 2 (to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) and SDG 3 (to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages).

More to say, there is a dire need to held more awareness public campaigns to sensitize the society towards the ill effects of smoking (and chewing) tobacco on human body, our environment and other living beings and to ensure the ways for its prevention.

(The Author is a medico/educator/columnist/public speaker. Email: drtasadukitoo@gmail.com)