Factsheet

• Nearly  90% of people in Africa remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke
• Secondhand smoke contains more than 4000 chemicals with  at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.
• Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30% and their lung cancer risk by 20–30%.
• Breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms in children and slow their lung growth  
• Secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children.
• There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposure can be dangerous
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• A study of air quality in bars across Ghana found that the air quality was lower than that which is accepted as being healthy and non smoking bar workers at nonsmoking bars reported lower frequency of wheezing, shortness of breath and eye irritation.. (link)

Other facts:

• Discarding cigarettes and matches can cause fire
• Ghana would be cleaner and if we all stopped smoking. Cigarette butts, followed by plastics and matchsticks, are the most commonly found items of litter. The government will be spending less on cleaning if we stop smoking.
• Cigarette butts are made up of cellulose acetate and take up to 12 years to biodegrade . Added to the 4000 chemicals found in butts, including hydrogen, cyanide and arsenic, it is no surprise that these are also an environmental problem.

The State of Smokefree Laws in Ghana

Coming soon