by the time you finish this article over 20 people will have died from smoking

Credit must be given to the Brazilian government who have spent millions of pounds on public health campaigns to get its citizens to give up smoking. They have been relentless in promoting the dangers of cigarette smoking and the Brazilian Health Department recently launched a new campaign showing a series of ten terrifying images showing what smoking can do to you.

Probably the most shocking image is one of a foetus on its side in an ashtray which highlights how dangerous it is for pregnant women to smoke. The other particularly shocking images show a family surrounding the bedside of the sick man who is clearly dying of smoking related illness and also an image showing the feeling of uselessness and despair of a man suffering from smoking related erectile dysfunction.

The World Health Organisation which collects statistics on smoking all around the world say that in Brazil 17% of 13 to 15 year olds and 16% of adults are smokers. Unfortunately many teenagers who start smoking eventually get hooked and despite wanting to give up are unable to quit the habit until it is too late. Lighting up that first cigarette dramatically changes the course of millions of children’s lives.

The figures from the World Health Organisation also estimate that there are over 1 billion men and women smoking at present, and this results in the death of almost five and a half million adults every year.  They claim that smoking is now responsible for around ten percent of all adult deaths in the world and that every six seconds someone succumbs to a smoking related illness, meaning that by the time you finish browsing this article over 20 people who otherwise would be alive and healthy are now dead.

Don’t wait until its too late….