Passive smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke is a form of inhaling smoke from the air, although it is not directly smoked, but it has "indirect impact that leads to the risk of developing such diseases as lung cancer.

Passive smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke is a form of inhaling smoke from the air, although it is not directly smoked, but it has "indirect impact that leads to the risk of developing such diseases as lung cancer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that there is no safe threshold for passive smoking. It imposes health hazards on all people exposed, even for a short time, even on those who just enter a room where someone has smoked not long time ago.

Passive smoking and some scientific facts:

  • Passive smoking can cause many dangerous diseases in both adults and children. It is estimated that in Vietnam up to 70% of children under age of 5 are exposed to secondhand smoke.
  • David Liewellyn of the University of Cambridge in the UK said that inhaling secondhand smoke impairs cognitive nerve functions such as memory loss and increases the risk of schizophrenia by 3 times compared to people whose family members are non-smokers.
  • Furthermore, scientists at the Children's Environmental Health Center conducted a study observing 4,400 children aged 6-16. The results demonstrated that children living in constant smoking environment are inclined to have poorer academic performance than their peers. Even a small amount of secondhand smoke inhaled at home is enough to affect a child's ability to read and do math.
     

     

So how does passive smoking affect children?

It causes asthma, respiratory infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia, acute and chronic otitis media, increases the risk of meningitis, meningococcal disease and sudden death in children, hampers the normal development of lungs, affects intelligence and behavior of children.

Let's take measures to protect health of future generations. Each individual should raise his/her own awareness and responsibility, build a smoke-free environment, take care of themselves and those around them, especially children who are exposed to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.