Tobacco use and second hand smoke as risk factors for diseases in Nigeria: implications for collaborative research and multilevel tobacco control strategies.

Tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke constitute overwhelmingly the most significant risk factor for premature preventable deaths from cancer and across the board for chronic diseases in Nigeria. This paper reviews the tobacco policy in Nigeria and the risk factors for initiation and addiction to tobacco use among youths and young adults. Electronic databases and selected articles about tobacco use, second hand smoke were searched. Tobacco use alone is currently ranked fourth in the world in its contribution to years of life lost. Current estimates of tobacco epidemic show that 22.6% males and 11.2 females of Nigerian adolescents (13-5 years old) are smokers while 18.1% of both sexes smoke cigarette. In Cross River State, (N=2049), 34.8% adolescents live in homes where others smoke while 49.1% are around others who smoke in places outside their homes. Increase in the prevalence of the leading causes of death such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, trachea, bronchus, lung cancer and related diseases have been associated with increase in tobacco use and exposure to second hand smoke. Tobacco epidemic and exposure to second hand smoke in Nigeria have been associated with increase in the prevalence of many diseases some of which are the leading causes of preventable death. The implications for collaborative research and multilevel tobacco control strategies were discussed and recommendations made.