The Ministry of Health has stated that 172 people die annually in the Maldives due to tobacco consumption.

A presentation on the dangers of tobacco use was shared at a press conference held at the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

Sharing information from the presentation, a ministry official said that non-communicable diseases are increasing among society, and that these diseases can be prevented by changing lifestyle habits along with other risk factors.

The official highlighted that one of the main causes of illness, disability, and death in the Maldives alone is tobacco consumption and exposure to secondhand smoke. According to statistics, 172 people die annually due to tobacco use.

Referring to the latest STEPS survey results, the official said that one in every four people in Maldivian society is a tobacco user or uses tobacco in some form. The official added that 20.1 percent of those aged between 15 and 29 years, 29.0 percent of those aged between 30 and 44 years, and 23.4 percent of people between the ages of 45 and 65 use tobacco.

Further, the official said that people aged 30 to 44 years are in the working-age group, and if they are at risk of major diseases, it also affects the country's productivity.

Shedding light on the results of the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in the Maldives, the official said that 45.7 percent of children who participated in the survey had used some form of tobacco at some point. These were children between the ages of 13 and 15 years.

The official noted that out of the 45.7 percent, 17.1 percent of children used e-cigarettes, and 3.1 percent used Shisha or Hookah.

The official said that this is a concerning issue for the future of the Maldives and that many significant efforts need to be made to solve it.

Regarding some of the current and planned initiatives, the official said that institutions and island communities need to work together to control tobacco use. The official mentioned that a campaign called "Dhafaraa" has been launched. He added that the campaign is being carried out to raise public awareness, reduce children's exposure to tobacco, train health professionals to provide treatment for tobacco cessation, and work on policy changes.