CHAPTER ONE

INRODUCTION

Smoking refers to the inhalation and exhalation of fume from burning tobacco in cigarette, cigar and pipes. Historically, smoking as a practice was carried out by natives of Western Hemisphere. (Ygoy, 2016)

According to WH.O, 2015, tobacco production I made entirely or partly of leafs, which are intended to be smoked, sucked, chewed or snuffed and containing highly addictive psycho active agent-nicotine. Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases including cancer, lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

Tobacco used may be defined as any habitual use of the tobacco leaf and its products. The predominant use of tobacco I by smoke inhalation of cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Smokeless tobacco refers to a variety of tobacco products that are sniffed, chewed or sucked. (W.H.O, 2014).

According to W.H.O, smoking and tobacco use policy (2013) a smoker is someone who smokes any tobacco product daily or occasionally. A daily smoker is someone who smokes from time to time  while a smoker is someone who smokes tobacco product at least once a day .tobacco use among youths is the use of any tobacco product by adolescent or either exposure to such products in the streets, homes, schools, or even in the tobacco farms.

According to (SN Jang, 2014), cigarette contains three harmful substances that can lead to fatal nicotine, which is an addictive substance that leads to having just one puff of a cigarette into buying numerous packets and smoking them all. This habit becomes very difficult to part with and eventually leads to damages in health are irreversible.

Tar is another component in cigarette which contributes to its harmful effects. It is a brown tacky chemical that is left behind on the end of the cigarette filter. It stains the smoker’s teeth’s, lips and fingers. It also coats the lungs with a brownish yellow film there by inhibiting its functions. The buildup tar results in lung cancer which is the most common cause of death among regular smokers.

 Carbon monoxide, which when inhale reduces the oxygen up tae of red blood cells. This leads to shortness of breath, over fatigue and complication with the heart lungs. Symptoms such as bad breath, rapid heart rate, low exercise tolerance, loss of taste and smell, cough and many others.

What makes smoking dangerous to the society is that, it does not only affect the individual smoker’s health but those around him\her as well. Each year, more than 4100 nonsmokers die from exposure to second hand smoking (nonsmokers who are exposed to smoke from cigarette smoked by C.D.C 2016 either at home, public, public or work places). (WHO, 2015) states that second hand tobacco smoke exposure has the same risk and effect as active smoking.

Smoking is an unhealthy habit that can become addictive. It is the most important course dead in the world. All forms of smoking are harmful. Smoking mentholated, natural, low tar or low nicotine cigarettes does not lower the risk of serious complications of smoking (AHA, 2011).

According to the American tobacco report 2014, the number of adult smokers in Africa ranges between, 70,000000 to 572,000000 million and will keep rising if policies are not implemented and enforced.

According to John R,(2007), tobacco remains the largest preventable course of death and disease in Africa, but there is clear opportunity to curb and prevent its use and safe millions of lives with a combination of targeted prevention and intervention policies.

According to African Commission Association (2011), smoking kills more people than alcohol, Aids, car crashes, illegal drugs, murder and suicides. Developing countries especially those in Africa have developed strategies to reduce smoking and save lives following pressure from WHO,

Statistic from the Ministry of Public Health in Cameroon 2017 reveals that 17.5% of the populations estimated above twenty million are smokers, giving a figure of about 3.500.000 Cameroonians.

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Tobacco is one of the biggest health threats the world has ever faced, killing about 6 million people a year. More than 5 million of those death are as a result of direct tobacco use while more than 600.000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second smoke.(WHO,2016).

According to WHO 2002, about 2% of young teenagers (13-12years) some worldwide. Eight hundred to one thousand children begin smoking in adolescent are projected to go on to smoke for 15-20 years. Nearly 80% of the world, 1 billion smokers lives in low middle- income countries. (WHO, 2017).

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 2011, each day more than 9.200 youths younger than 18 years of age some their first fume of cigarette. It further states that each day, 2.100 youths and young adults who have been occasionally smokers become daily cigarette smokers.

Worldwide tobacco use courses about 6 million deaths per year and current trends shows that tobacco use will course more than 8 million death by 2030 if policies relating to tobacco reduction are not implemented worldwide (WHO 2010).

Warren, 2019, states that in the African regions, lung cancer is the leading course of death and about 80% of lung cancer death is attributed to smoking. In Northern Africa, where smoking is prevalence has increased, lung cancer deaths are also increasing.

WHO, further reports that not only tobacco causes diseases, patients with coronary heart disease, cancer and several others who continue to smoke are also at a significantly higher risk of death compared to patients with same diseases who never smoked or who quit smoking after being diagnosed of the disease.

In addition to the above statistics, the investigator who spent his adolescent life in a village setting where smoking was very common and still common until date witnessed several instances where parents often send their children to purchase cigarette and at times will even tell the children to light them. At this tender age, children are vulnerable to emulate characters.

Te investigator as equally worried due to the fact that most of his brothers and friends were smokers and despite the fact that the production companies boldly display the message “Tobacco seriously damages your health and that of persons around you”. Despite the warning, the sales are still on the rise.

This and many more other conditions kept disturbing the investigator and push him to find out the knowledge of youths on the effects of tobacco smoking on health.

 1.2RESEARCH QUESTION

What is the knowledge of youths of ‘Church Street Limbe ages 15-30 years on the effects of tobacco smoking on health?

1.3 GENERAL OBJECTIVES

To assessing the knowledge of youths of ‘Church Street Limbe 15-30 years on the effects of tobacco smoking on health and to propose recommendation depending on the results of the study

 1.4SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• Identify individual characteristics of respondents.
• Assess knowledge of respondents on tobacco.
• Assess knowledge of respondent on the effects of tobacco.
• To propose solutions based on the results of the study.