Second-hand smoke can be a killer

By a Staff Reporter

THE Cyprus Association of Cancer Patients and Friends yesterday joined 460 other members of two global non-governmental organisations on ‘World No Tobacco Day’ in the fight to stop second-hand smoke.

According to the Association, men, women and children exposed to second-hand smoke involuntarily suffer from many of the diseases of active smokers.

“Non-smokers who regularly breathe second-hand smoke have a 25 per cent increased risk of developing both lung cancer and heart disease — and an 80 per cent increased risk of suffering a stroke,” it said.

The NGOs are leading their 460 members in lobbying governments, health authorities and employers to introduce smoke-free measures, including smoke-free hospitals, workplaces, restaurants and public transport, as well as to train health professionals to educate communities about the proven risks of second-hand smoke and the immediate health benefits to people who quit smoking.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.