Smoking Can Cause Infertility Among Women, Premature Birth Say Doctors

By Gopal Krishna Agarwal

Smoking in women can cause infertility and premature baby birth, warn doctors as they called for stricter tobacco control policy to save over 1.3 million lives which meet untimely death due to consumption of the deadly product every year in India.

Dr. Uma Kumar, Professor and Head of the Department of Rheumatology, AIIMS New Delhi said that smoking habits among women are on the increase which is a matter of concern. It may result in infertility, cases of which are also rising these days. Also, smoking may lead to premature birth, she warned.

In fact, the doctor said, contrary to the general notion, tobacco consumption affects not only the lungs but many major parts of the body like teeth and bones are seriously damaged. Dr Kumar said that first-hand smoke and secondhand smoke both are equally harmful to health. Kumar was sharing her views at a webinar on the “Prevention of deaths caused by tobacco” organized by Tobacco Free India on the occasion of World Health Day observed recently.
Economist and BJP’s national spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal while participating in the discussion too called for a stricter tobacco-control policy such as increasing the tax on such harmful products which, he said, would not only generate more revenue for the Government’s welfare schemes but also prove beneficial to those who use them by reducing the consumption of these products.
Along with this, the additional revenue earned therefrom could be utilized for the welfare and alternative employment of the poor and tribal who are engaged in tobacco-related business and are victims of exploitation. With this fund, tobacco-cessation centers could also be set up.

He further said that in the case of addictive products like tobacco, awareness among people is not enough, but in such cases, the pricing factor has a big impact. According to the principle of economics, if their price is increased through tax, then it will help in reducing consumption, which will also benefit those who use them. The existing taxes on tobacco products are not enough, he argued.

Agarwal also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the resolution to make a healthy India, and in order to fulfill it, along with treatment, preventive measures are also very important. Twenty-eight percent of the adult population of the country is using tobacco products. As various tactics are being adopted by the producers of sin goods to lure students of the age group of 13 to 15 years, the Government has decided to make the tobacco-control laws more stringent.