Discussion
After decades of public skepticism among tobacco
smokers, this millennium has seen major advances in
public awareness that tobacco smoking poses a risk to
health as a result of highly successful tobacco control
policies and public information campaigns.3,179-181
However, the battle to ensure the public fully
understands the health risks of tobacco smoking is far
from won. The public and policymakers are well aware
that lung cancer is one of the greatest risks of tobacco
smoking. However, there is little awareness of the risk of
other diseases from active and passive smoking, and
few parents understand the damage their smoking can
do to their children.180 This lack of knowledge remains
a major challenge for policymakers. Without full
understanding of the risks, smokers are less likely to
have the motivation to quit, even when effective
smoking cessation measures are readily available.182,183