Heralding a tobacco free world

Title: Dumkola Lokayatama Tharjanayak
Translated by Manjari Peiris
Published by IATH Swedish Heart Lung Foundation
 

by Deepal Warnakulasuriya

"Tobacco: A Global Threat" by John Crafton and David Simpson has been translated into Sinhala as "Dumkola: Lokayatama Tharjanayak" by Manjari Pieris filling a large gap prevailing in the country at present.

The subject which should have been spoken of much earlier seems to have been forgotten or neglected by all. Journalist, Manjari should be praised for two reasons. The first is, her boldness to select a subject like this as she has not just written a book, but made an attempt to change the world. She knows that she is going to fight with an International Marketing Network which promotes tobacco and tobacco related products.

The second reason is that the original book was not written by just anybody but by well-known academic and intellectual personalities, who are eminent medical professionals and tobacco control experts.

Sir John Crafton MD (Camb) is a Professor Emeritus of Respiratory Diseases and Tuberculosis at Edingburg University and Prof. David Simpson is the Director for International Agency on Tobacco and Health.

The Co-authors in their original book have written "Many of the poorer parts of the world are affiliated by two important epidemics. Those are Tuberculosis and HIV". They have introduced to us a third epidemic and that is tobacco which now has swept into poorer countries.

Abandoning the habit

The book explains how the richer countries have begun to learn about the suffering caused by tobacco and their gradual abandoning of the habit. Most of the details brought out by the book are useful not only for individuals but for governing bodies who make national level decisions.

The book reveals that tobacco consumption is now decreasing in most industrialised countries and the multinational tobacco companies are concentrating on Asia, Africa and Latin America with their marketing strategies and massive physical resources.

In most of these countries smoking rates are already high or rising. But the smoking rates for women are at present mostly low, even though the tobacco companies are making an effort to influence them with their skilled marketing.

One of the most important messages which the book highlights is that politicians or opinion makers have not yet realized the threat of the long gap between the period of starting to smoke and the resulting disease and death.

Across the 210 pages of the book, the threat of tobacco is explained and defined in 12 chapters; i.e The Tobacco epidemic; The Present World Solution, Threats to health, Passive smoking, chewing tobacco, How to give up, The Tobacco Industry, National level controlling projects, legal actions etc.

I feel, the book is primarily for activists and advocates in the tobacco controlling field and at the same time, it would be useful for a wider audience, like politicians, journalists, health professionals and all those responsible and concerned about human health specially of women, children and youth.

While the co-authors enlighten the readers using their professional knowledge on smoking related diseases and the experience of years, they also do not forget to tell us "Do not under estimate the power of the tobacco industry and its allies". Manjari who has written two books before on the same subject, tells her readers that you can give up smoking today itself.

In the translation, Manjari has taken maximum efforts to use simple language making it easy for the reader to understand the book. The book also comprises graphics, data, and statistics to give a complete and meaningful message to the reader.

It is very interesting reading as the book includes not only just theoretical details but personal experiences of the people who are directly involved in the issue.

Educating the public

In a situation where nicotine addiction through smoking cigarettes and other tobacco use has become a major cause of preventable deaths, Manjari's book; Dumkola: Lokayatama Tharjanayak will definitely encourage the ones who wish for a tobacco free world.

London University's Tropical Child Health Emeritus Prof. David Morely who had written a forward in the original book says that those who live in richer countries have more effective legal systems and community organisations. He says that such organisations can resist the wealth of the tobacco companies and is worried about the "resource poor countries."

Manjari by translating the book into Sinhala tries to prove that a country like Sri Lanka can face the problem by educating the public. Now, her task is complete. The rest is upto you.

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