2023-08-02 19:04:06
In the European plan to fight against cancer “tobacco smoke is considered as the main preventable cause of cancer” for this reason “we want to achieve a tobacco-free Europe. However, all the measures proposed by the European Commission belong to the area of tax provisions and prohibitions. According to some important American studies on measures to combat addictions, including smoking, in the last 25 years taxes and bans have increased inequalities without intervening in the containment of consumption. Therefore, they do not help to quit. Result? Heavy smokers continue to fall ill and die by the thousands”. Said Fabio Beatrice, scientific director of the Mohre Observatory – Medical observatory on harm reduction, speaking today in the Social Affairs Commission, as part of the examination, in the proceedings of the European Union, of the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council “European plan to fight against cancer”.
Quitting smoking “is the fundamental objective such as the contrast between the youngest – the expert points out – but if you are unable to quit, you need to indicate aid policies, not taking action leads to the chronicisation of mortality. In Italy we are talking about 93 thousand deaths avoidable every year.
“Prohibitions and taxes do not solve the problem of addiction to nicotine from smoking because smoking is an addiction and as such needs to be treated – explains Beatrice – but unfortunately in Europe there is no common organization as regards the fight against smoking and the proposals that smokers must receive in order to quit”. In this complex scenario, continues the expert, “the issue of reducing the tobacco risk fits in because it is known with absolute certainty that cancer linked to smoking is due to combustion products: the smoker becomes addicted due to nicotine but falls ill and dies due to inhaling the products of combustion.Now it is evident that one cannot do without a policy of help in the case of an addiction but the proposal of anti-smoking centers and Cessation as the only way to propose to the smoker does not seem to give satisfactory results at the moment.In Italy, less than 10,000 smokers of the 11.5 million smokers go to anti-smoking centres. Among the people who are helped in adherence to the guidelines, half manage to quit smoking, if all goes well. Substantially this measure is effective in a percentage lower than 0.1% of the population who smokes”.
“In the United Kingdom and in the USA – recalls Beatrice – some recent studies show that the use of electronic cigarettes is associated with a cessation of 10-15% higher than all other methods. Furthermore, it has been seen that smokers who vape are frequently significantly more likely to quit smoking than those who do not use e-cigarettes.In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that smokers who use e-cigarettes are able to quit compared to those who do not use them”.
Quitting smoking is the fundamental objective “like the contrast between the younger ones – concludes Beatrice – but if this objective cannot be achieved, it is necessary to indicate policies to help heavy smokers because not taking action leads to the chronicisation of mortality. In Italy we are talking about 93 thousand avoidable deaths every year. Car policies for smokers should not be confused with policies to combat smoking and prevention. The organizational model of Great Britain appears to be the most virtuous example because it manages to unambiguously combine the proposal of cessation, prevention and the policy of helping smokers resistant to cessation thanks to the aid of electronic cigarettes” .
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