National Council Against Smoking gains support
JOBURG – Smoking is the greatest avoidable cause of premature death and disability.
Every year, 44 000 people die from smoking in South Africa, according to the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS), who has been instrumental in lobbying government for legislation to control tobacco use.
“Our mission is to promote health through non-smoking. We provide support and educational programmes to help smokers quit, to educate young people about the risks of smoking and prevent them from starting, as well as protect non-smokers from the effects of second-hand smoke,” said Dr Yussuf Saloojee, executive director at NCAS.
About 23 billion cigarettes are smoked each year by 7.7 million South African adults. While men are the main consumers, statistics show that there is an increase in smoking among women and more alarmingly, younger children, according to Saloojee.
“Given the dire health statistics of this killer addiction, South Africa faces an enormous challenge in providing support to smokers to help them quit, and more crucially, to reach young people before they start smoking,” he said.
For this reason, Hollard Life has donated R60 000 to the NCAS to assist with its Stop Smoking outreach programmes.
“Smoking has a significant effect on risk insurance and the premiums that a smoker pays. Most smokers don’t realise that the health and financial burden of smoking is a lot more extensive than simply the cost of their daily fix,” said Saks Ntombela, Hollard Life and Investments managing director.
Ntombela added that smoking is also proven to be the greatest avoidable cause of premature death and disability in the world.
“Our support of the NCAS and the outreach work they perform is fitting in providing support to smokers to quit, and to also prevent young people from starting up in the first place. Stopping smoking – regardless of how long the person has smoked for and how many – is one of the best things a smoker can do for his or her health and finances.”
Saloojee commended Hollard for its support.
“The donated monies will be going toward the development of educational materials for our youth outreach programmes into schools. We are currently running a pilot programme whereby people with smoking-related diseases, notably cancer, visit schools to share their personal stories of the impact that smoking has had on their quality of life,” he said.
”The donated funds will also be used in furthering our youth outreach programme that is focused on the prevention of nicotine addiction from the outset,” Saloojee concluded.
