The second consecutive year, Moldova celebrates the National No Smoking Day on the third Thursday of November in a move to sensitize the people to the risks posed by smoking and to the benefits enjoyed after giving up smoking. According to the Ministry of Health, up to 4,000 people die in Moldova annually owing to diseases associated with smoking, IPN reports.

Some 48.5% of the men and 8.2% of the women smoke in Moldova. Smoking among women is a major social problem because smoking affects not only the woman’s health, but also the health of the future child in case of pregnancy. Smoking can cause abortion, ectopic pregnancy and extrauterine pregnancy. Smoking almost doubles the risk of having a child with a low weight at birth. The babies weighing less than 2,500 grams at birth can have serious problems during the first months of life and can develop chronic handicaps such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation or bronchial asthma.

According to the World Health Organization, each year tobacco kills about 5 million people worldwide. More than 600 000 of those deaths are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Each cigarette shortens life by seven minutes, while each pack of cigarettes smoked daily – by 35 days a year. This means that a year for a smoker has less than 11 months. Smoking is responsible for 90% of the cases of lung cancer, 75% cases of chronic bronchitis, and 25% cases of heart diseases.