Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I’d like to start with a group of pictures.
"Modern and advanced"? This society forgets, and ignores the other two thirds of human beings. It's far from the ideal! We call ideal as a utopian, a place where reality does not exist. A few people still look forward to the ideals. We make fun of them, considering they are naive. Will we still be content to live in such a society, if misfortune drops to us? No! Of cause not!
When we feel the warmth of the sun, these people, endure great sorrows and pains. Can we imagine that? They are our brother and sisters!
Facing them, will we still complain about our own misfortune?
Facing them, will we still have the mood shouting for our own freedom? Facing them, will we still want to have more and more unnecessary stuff?
They are unable to meet their needs, even the basic needs of survival! Everyone, as a member of humanity, shouldn't feel ashamed? Our luxury deprived their lives, our indifference violated our soul, and our barbarity destroyed human civilization!
What's the ideal society? It's a society no one worries about their living, a society no one is refused from education, a society everyone can pursue his/her own happiness! The ideal society is filled with love, joy and kindness. In that society, we can touch the other's hearts, we can share our dreams and most important, we can just be the true men!
Let's break the ethnic divide, bridge the gap between rich and poor, hand in hand, to build a Great wall, protecting us from evil; to construct a steady bridge, connecting reality to the ideal society! Let's pursue for that, that's the only way to the bright future! They are watching us! Thank you!
Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease, says the World Health Organisation.
According to their figures, it is responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide every year.
Tobacco smoking is a known or probable cause of approximately 25 diseases, and even the WHO says that its impact on world health is not fully assessed.
Heart attack and stroke
UK studies show that smokers in their 30s and 40s are five times more likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers.
Tobacco contributes to the hardening of the arteries, which can then become blocked and starve the heart of bloodflow, causing the attack.
Often, smokers who develop this will require complex and risky heart bypass surgery.
If you smoke for a lifetime, there is a 50% chance that your eventual death will be smoking-related - half of all these deaths will be in middle age.
Smoking also increases the risk of having a stroke.
Lung problems
Another primary health risk associated with smoking are lung cancer, which kills more than 20,000 people in the UK every year.
US studies have shown that men who smoke increase their chances of dying from the disease by more than 22 times.
Women who smoke increase this risk by nearly 12 times.
Lung cancer is a difficult cancer to treat - long term survival rates are poor.
Smoking also increases the risk of oral, uterine, liver, kidney, bladder, stomach, and cervical cancers, and leukaemia.
Another health problem associated with tobacco is emphysema, which, when combined with chronic bronchitis, produces chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
he lung damage which causes emphysema is irreversible, and makes it extremely difficult to breathe.
Harm to children
Smoking in pregnancy greatly increases the risk of miscarriage, is associated with lower birthweight babies, and inhibited child development.
Smoking by parents following the birth is linked to sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death, and higher rates of infant respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, colds, and pneumonia.
Nicotine, an ingredient of tobacco, is listed as an addictive substance by the US authorities.
Although the health risks of smoking are culmulative, giving up can yield health benefits regardless of the age of the patient, or the length of time they have been smoking.
Future impact
By 20xx, the WHO expects the worldwide death toll to reach 10 million, causing 17.7% of all deaths in developed countries.
There are believed to be 1.1 billion smokers in the world, 800 million of them in developing countries.