World no tobacco day
Today is World no tobacco day
To commemorate World No Tobacco Day, many countries have joined the initiative to raise awareness of the significant impact that tobacco use has on today’s society.
Let’s grow food, not tobacco
Under the slogan “let’s grow food, not tobacco” the WHO warns that a much larger area is dedicated to its cultivation than to food products, especially in underdeveloped countries.
It is estimated that it is cultivated in around 124 countries, and it occupies spaces that could easily be used for growing food.
In fact, tobacco is not very profitable for farmers or governments.
Instead, the tobacco industry invests a lot of money to acquire and exploit these lands for its own benefit.
In general lines, the objective in this case is to take advantage of these lands to grow nutritious food, so important to establish a means of subsistence for self-consumption.
To achieve this, it is proposed that governments bet on the reallocation of subsidies and reconvert these crop fields.
Tobacco is the main cause of respiratory diseases
Tobacco has been shown to cause numerous respiratory diseases, and exposure to smoke increases the risk of COPD, chronic bronchitis or, in the worst case, lung cancer.
Current tobacco use
The data estimated by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare show that around 60,000 deaths a year in Spain are caused by respiratory diseases, that is, an average of 164 deaths a day.
For this reason, the National Health System launches numerous initiatives to make citizens aware of its risks, especially young people.
The challenge is to prevent this public from falling into addictions such as tobacco and other new forms of consumption of inhaled substances, such as electronic cigarettes and hookah.
In Spain, in recent years, especially since the pandemic, measures have been adopted to reduce tobacco consumption.
Nonetheless, in some communities it has been maintained until today, some of them have been the prohibition of smoking on terraces or beaches.
Numbers don’t lie
The Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) has reported that between 20% and 30% of Spaniards have been smokers in 2022.
In this case, the data is collected in the magazine “Smoking Prevention” produced by the Autonomous Forum on Smoking, made up of the smoking representatives of the autonomous Pneumology societies.
Initiatives to quit smoking promoted in Andalusia
In the health institutions of Andalusia, health advice is offered to quit smoking
Through these consultancies, this population has been alerted both to the dangers of their consumption and to the positive effects of not consuming them.
In addition, patients are invited to combine psychological and pharmacological support treatments.
In 2022, 44,878 smokers were treated, of which 43,175 received Individual Advanced Intervention and 1,703 Group Advanced Intervention.
An example is The Forma Joven program which works to provide young people in Andalusia with detailed information on those aspects related to tobacco and the risks it poses to health.
In the 2021-22 academic year, 299 individual counseling and 651 group activities were carried out from the tobacco-related program.
At the tobacco information telephone (900 850 300), free of charge, 24-hour coverage throughout the year, managed by Salud Responde, 32,057 information calls have been answered, from its inception in 2005 to December 2022.
World No Tobacco Day celebration
San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital of Granada
Awareness about the harms of smoking and the benefit of quitting on World No Tobacco Day
The San Cecilio Clinic has developed different activities that invited the people who attended to participate in them and to think that “there are plenty of reasons to quit smoking.”
For example, contests, information tables, exchanging cigarettes for pots with aromatic plants and fruit.
These were some of the activities carried out by professionals in Occupational Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Pneumology.
The managing director of the San Cecilio Clinic, Manuel Reyes, has pointed out:
“The serious damage that tobacco causes to the health of smokers and their environment, being the main cause of preventable disease and death.”
Furthermore, we highlight consumption among young people and adolescents, reminding them that there are other equally harmful forms of smoking.
In fact, none of the forms of smoking (conventional, electronic, hookah, etc.) is harmless and its consumption is related to many diseases and more than 20 types of cancer.
The table also had the participation of representatives of the Asthmatic and Allergy Association ‘Aire Libre’ who have joined the actions to raise awareness about the risks of tobacco use.
