During the third meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Control (MOP3), which is being held at the Amador Convention Center in the capital, the Vice Minister of Health of the isthmus, Ivette Berrio, informed that in this country more than 153,444 people over 15 years of age are consumers, a 5.0 percent prevalence rate.

The official said that the cost of care for the diseases suffered by tobacco product users and those caused by passive smokers also has an impact on public finances.

In Panama there are an average of nearly 2,000 deaths per year attributable to tobacco, since eight of the 10 leading causes of death are associated with the use of these products or exposure to their toxic smoke, she said.

In this regard, the Health Ministry (Minsa) warned in a statement on the occasion of this World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, with the participation of 70 countries, that the consumption of these products is an undeniable cause of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, stroke and a wide variety of malignant tumors.

It also affects the health of children and teenagers and has a negative impact on sexual and reproductive health, producing erectile dysfunction, infertility, miscarriages and low birth weight, adds the text to which Prensa Latina had access.

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