The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria on Wednesday revealed that smoking can make men impotent.
President of AGPMPN, Dr. Frank Odafen, stated these during a press briefing in commemoration of this year’s Family Doctors’ Day, scheduled for Thursday with the theme: ‘Smoking cessation and the family’.
Among the diseases associated with smoking include lung cancer, heart diseases such as heart attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, erectile dysfunction and birth defects, the president revealed.
He therefore called on the Federal Government to ban all commercial advertisements which promote smoking because “tobacco consumption cases erectile dysfunction.”
The association which demanded enforcement of the ban on smoking in public places and transport systems, also quoted the report of the World Health Organisation, which state that while over one billion people globally smoke tobacco, over five million people die worldwide annually as a result of its consumption.
“Some of the deadly hazards associated with smoking include erectile dysfunction, lung cancer, heart diseases, including heart attacks, chronic pulmonary diseases and birth defects,” he said.
To check the trend which, Odafen called on the government to put some wholesome laws in place which are expected to protect non-smokers.
The AGPMPN said, “All government at all levels should ban smoking in public places/transport systems. The government should institute high taxation on tobacco products, while the National Broadcasting Corporation should run advertorials on TV/Radio to discourage smoking.”
