Chennai: “Smokers who claim to be healthy might be gifted with good genes, but a bad gene can affect them in manifold ways if they use tobacco,” said Dr Ranganathan, professor of thoracic medicine. May 31, observed as World No Tobacco Day, had cancer survivors from the city speak on how tobacco had affected them, how doctors from the GH helped them fight it and why they advised others to quit smoking, at a function at the Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital here.
According to the WHO, 60 lakh people globally died every year due to tobacco use. A study conducted by the department of surgical gastroenterology found that 80 per cent of stomach cancer patients and 60 per cent of food pipe cancer patients were smokers. There are only some deaths that can be prevented and death due to cancer is one that can be by avoiding tobacco,” said Dr C. Vijayabhaskar, minister for health. “There were 50 lakh and 64 lakh people who were tested for fibroids and breast cancer respectively through the Non Communicable Disease programme introduced by the chief minister this year," he added.
