Gabriel Omotoso, a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Ilorin, has identified tobacco smoking as a main cause of preventable deaths and diseases around the world. Omotoso disclosed this over the weekend when presenting the university’s 259th inaugural lecture.
According to Omotoso, tobacco smoking causes over 8 million fatalities per year.
According to the most recent estimate, 1.25 billion people worldwide use tobacco, with low and middle-income nations accounting for 80%.
The first talk was entitled “White Matter Matters in the Search for Phytochemical Candidates for Demyelinating Disorders.”
According to the Don, of the eight million deaths caused by tobacco use each year, “1.3 million are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.”
Omotoso teaches in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin.
He was disappointed that “despite a great deal of health education and awareness on the grave implications of cigarette smoking, many people are still caught in the web of the habit.” He estimated that 10% of the Nigerian population smoked tobacco every day.
The don observed certain negative effects of cigarette smoke on many organs of the body, including male gonads and reproduction/fertility, and added that passive cigarette smoke also harms adult brains.
To combat the dangers of cigarette smoke, Omotoso emphasised “the need for all of us to arise and protect our children from tobacco industry interference”.
The inaugural lecturer also urged the government to enforce tobacco production restrictions across the country. He emphasised the necessity for the government to “take a cue from other countries, such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia to effect this”.
He stated that there was an urgent need for public awareness on the dangers of cigarette smoking.
Omotoso emphasised the importance of improving access to diagnostic tools in order to address the country’s disease diagnosis challenges.
He stated that “tobacco smoking, whether actively or passively, is deadly” and should be avoided like the plague.
Omotoso specifically urged pregnant women and those planning to get pregnant to avoid tobacco exposure.