Tobacco consumption not only causes cancer but also breaks hearts by causing cardiovascular diseases, experts warned on Wednesday as they called for a stringent tobacco-control law seeking to ban public designated smoking zones and advertisements at the point of sale among others.

On the eve of . World Heart Day' which has ‘Use Heart for Every Heart,’ as a theme this year, noted interventional cardiologist Dr Sekhar Kashyap talked about the multiple heart health risks associated with tobacco like peripheral vascular disease (a disease in the vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs) and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Pointing out that death numbers due to tobacco consumption are just the tip of the iceberg, the doctor said that, in fact, productivity and economic loss due to tobacco usage is enormous. Noting that India is the second largest producer and consumer of tobacco that claims nearly 13 lakhs lives annually, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that aware of the tobacco burden, the Government under the Prime Minister’s guidance has adopted a ‘zero tolerance' policy against the hazardous product.

To draw home his point, he enlisted several tobacco-control measures the government has taken in the past few years, imposing ban on e-cigarettes and big pictorial warnings on tobacco products to name a few.  Now, the Government has proposed amendments in the COTPA which shows that it has the intention to strictly fill the gaps to deter tobacco consumption, the Northeast Delhi BJP MP asserted.

Tiwari was speaking at a webinar organized by ‘Tobacco Free India’, a public health platform, and moderated by senior journalist and writer Arun Anand. Agreeing with the former Delhi BJP president Tiwari, Dr. Uma Kumar, reputed public health expert and HoD of Rheumatology, AIIMS, highlighted the link between tobacco and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). She quoted a global report that says that every year, 1.9 million people die from tobacco-induced heart disease.

This equates to one in five of all deaths from heart disease, warn the report’s authors, who urge all tobacco users to quit and avoid a heart attack, stressing that smokers are more likely to experience an acute cardiovascular event at a younger age than non-smokers. “If all the political parties, cutting across their ideologies, make consensus on the progressive COTPA amendments at the earliest, we will be saving millions of youth from falling into the trap of harmful tobacco products,” said Dr. Kumar.

“In fact, by allowing public smoking zones, we are actually promoting more smoking, It’s like their existence is sending the message that it is Ok to smoke. By banning these places, we will also help smokers to curb their habits and thus save his/her heart,” Dr Kashyap chipped in.

According to World Heart Federation, tobacco consumption damages blood vessels, elevates blood pressure for a short while, and is responsible for reduced exercise tolerance. All of these contribute to poor health in the long run and regular use leads to lung diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.