‘Insunko’ causes heart disease -UTH

By THANDIWE MOYO –
THE University Teaching Hospital (UTH) has warned women on the dangers of sniffing tobacco, commonly known as insunko in local language to warm their bodies, as it causes heart disease.
UTH managing director Ben Chirwa said women should desist from abusing snuff as it caused serious heart complications and infertility.
Dr Chirwa wondered why women were using insunko to warm their bodies to please men at the expense of a serious ailment.
“Some women in Lusaka and other parts of the country have resorted to sniffing insunko to make their bodies warm so that men who happen to have sex with them can feel the warmth without understanding the effects,” he said.
He said regardless of the reason women had for sniffing insunko, it  was not good for their health.
“There are no benefits in sniffing snuff   and the reasons women advance to justify the usage are just myths, they should stop, it will bring more harm in their lives than good,” he warned.
Dr Chirwa said the trend of using insunko by women was growing at a high rate especially among married women.
Insunko is a traditionally prepared brand of snuff ground to fine powder and sniffed or deeply inhaled into the throat.