Christina Hermoso writes in the Manila Bulletin that “forty-three Filipinos die of lung cancer everyday, making the disease the most prevalent of cancers in the country.”
The Cancer Network (C-Network), an advocacy group which works in patrnership with the Philippine Cancer Society and the Department of Health, said more than 17,000 new cases are diagnosed every year… of which 15,695 are expected to succumb to the disease which has a survival rate of only 5.28 percent.
The story noted that 52.69 percent of the Philippines’ adult population are smokers.
The C-Network (http://www.cnetwork.org.ph) said in a report Lung Cancer: Why it remains the No.1 cancer killer that “the greatest risk factor for developing lung cancer is smoking, which can be attributed to nine out of 10 lung cancer cases.”
The level of risk is affected by the length of time one has smoked and the quantity smoked. A person who smoked two packs per day for 20 years is eight times more likely to develop lung cancer than someone who smoked only one pack per day for 40 years. Non-smokers are also at risk. Spouses of smokers have a 25% chance of developing the disease, whereas co-workers of smokers exhibited an increased risk of 17%.
Meanwhile, in India, “grim pictures of cancerous tumours or an ailing infant” will be printed on the packet of cigarrette brands. Read: Scary pictures to help you quit smoking
Lung Cancer scared the hell out of me that is why i do not smoke cigarettes anymore.`”