Djs, victims of secondhand smoking

Disc Jokeys, Victims Of Secondary Smoking             BY PHYLLIS AMOAH, ACCRA. 

 Disc jokeys popularly known as djs are one of the characters that make an event entertaining, but the nature of their job mostly exposes them to some risks such as secondary smoking. Secondary smoking is when a person inhales smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by a smoker



According to American Lung Association, secondhand smoke causes approximately 7,330 deaths from lung cancer and 33,950 deaths from heart disease each year.  The U.S. Surgeon General also reports that between 1964 and 2014, 2.5 million people died from exposure to secondhand smoke which is a major cause of stroke. 

This image is a reproduction of "The smoker's body", by Colour Magazine, issue 21,July -August 1997.



DJ Nate  who spends the night in clubs entertaining revellers with music is a victim of passive smoking. In an interview with Nafti news, he  said he is aware of risks involved in smoking in general, however due to the nature of his job he ends up doing a lot of secondary smoking. “ Being a dj you have to be at one spot during the whole show time, it usually makes it hard for me to evade secondhand smoking because being in the club doing a show  or let us say there is a party, there is someone smoking and that person is allowed to smoke freely  and it is not as if I can move my station or inconvenience my client by telling them to move the smoking somewhere else, so I end up doing a lot of secondhand smoking and I am aware of the risks. It is just something I consider as part of the job” he said.      He went on to say that sometimes when people smoke around him, he gets home with his shirt smelling of the smoke which makes people around him think he smokes.

Dr. Zilla Liman the owner of Django Bar also known as Aftawerk, is also a doctor, she talks about how she manages the situation at her bar.  “ There are rules governing smoking, In Ghana here, you are not supposed to do indoor smoking, even with indoor smoking, there is supposed to be a designated area, nicely labelled so that If I don’t smoke and I decide to be in the smoking area then it is my risk” she said. According to Dr Limann she does not allow indoor smoking at a bar, smoking is done outdoor and upstairs so when people smoke, it gravitates towards the balcony and away from the dj.

Dr ZILLA LIMAN, further talked about the severity of secondary smoking especially to djs and suggests ways to curb the situation.                Dr. ZILLA LIMANN


Therefore when you find yourself in a smoking environment, remember the ball is in your cot. “Prevention is better than cure.”




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