31 May 2017

The Cayman Islands is once again marking World No Tobacco Day, a very significant date on our annual health calendar.

As highlighted in this year’s theme “Tobacco – a threat to development”, smoking has a significant impact on nations around the globe.

There are more than seven million deaths from tobacco use every year, a figure that is predicted by the World Health Organization to grow to more than eight million a year by 2030 without intensified action.

Tobacco use is a threat to any person, regardless of gender, age, and race, cultural or educational background. It brings suffering, disease, and death, impoverishing families and national economies.

In our very own country, the Cayman Islands, tobacco products and their use have had a significant impact on our people, not only affecting those who smoke but also those who inhale second-hand smoke.

While observing World No Tobacco Day, let us take this opportunity to demonstrate how, as individuals, we can help create a tobacco-free society. By extension, we can also make our contribution to a tobacco-free world, either by committing to never taking up tobacco products, or by quitting the habit.

Anyone who has ever smoked knows how hard it can be to stop using tobacco products. It’s an addiction that has been well researched and documented.

Among one of the interventions to assist with giving up tobacco, the Public Health Department developed atobacco-dependence programme in 2014, which is free of charge to the public. This seven-week programme “I Can Quit” has proved very successful, with a high number of people attending the classes able to stop smoking after taking part. The programme has a success rate of greater than 70 per cent.

The next programme begins on 31 May 2017 and will be held in the Public Health Department waiting room at the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town. If you want to stop smoking and you are committed, the Ministry urges you to sign up. You will find great support through this life-changing period, and the benefits of giving up tobacco are manifold.

The Ministry responsible for health urges residents to think carefully about the consequences of smoking. The effects including heart disease, lung disease and a variety of other debilitating conditions which all too often lead to premature death.

Please take action now before it is too late.

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