Experts Corner: Impact Of Smoking On Fighting Coronavirus

Smoking is a vitally important public health issue that is gaining renewed attention in the COVID 19 era. There is ample evidence to suggest that those who smoke are at a significantly higher risk of developing serious life threatening complications with COVID-19, compared to non-smokers. Equally, smoking is a big risk factor for Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disease. These diseases indeed place people at far greater risk for developing severe illness when affected with COVID-19. Also, those who smoke are more likely to be infected with COVID 19 as smoking involves fingers touching the lips, which is in itself a risk factor. Furthermore, there is also a possibility for contaminated cigarettes to transmit the virus from hands to the mouth. – Dr P. Raghu Ram, President, The Association of Surgeons of India

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Categories ASI Activities 2020, COVID 19