2023-07-31 13:41:52
71% of the world’s population is somehow protected with some type of anti-smoking measure. This is five times more than in 2007, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). In total, some 5.6 billion people have some type of public health measure that acts as a shield.
This organization’s report on the global tobacco epidemic, produced in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, focuses on protect the public from passive consumptionnoting that nearly 40% of countries now have completely smoke-free indoor public spaces.
One of the most pressing problems today is the new ways of smoking. Products that are disguised as substitutes for traditional cigarettes, which contain nicotine, which is the most addictive substance in tobacco, and have a direct impact on those who consume them the most: young people under 20 years of age.
The WHO report warns that the early use of electronic cigarettes may push adolescents and children to become traditional smokers in the future. The regulation of these products is much greater in developed countries. 85% of them have implemented measures to limit their use (in Spain it is a pending issue) than in developing countries, where only 40% of countries have regulations of this type.
The WHO is particularly concerned by the fact that companies that market electronic cigarettes are employing tactics to reach younger consumers and even children. For this reason, it calls for more measures to be taken to prevent the use of flavorings and flavorings in electronic cigarettes, something that had only been carried out by four States until the year 2022.
On the other hand, 22 countries have so far banned the sale of electronic cigarettesvapers, and disposable electronic cigarettes (puffs) with nicotine, including Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
The report rates countries’ progress on tobacco control and shows that two more countries, Mauritius and the Netherlandshave reached the level of best practice in all MPOWER measures, a feat that only Brazil and Turkey have achieved so far.
“These data show that slowly but surely more people are being protected from the harms of tobacco by WHO’s evidence-based best practice policies,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Eight countries are just one policy away from MPower to join the leaders in tobacco control: Ethiopia, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain.
Our country has yet to go beyond the Directive 2022/2100 that regulates various aspects of heated tobacco and ends with some exceptions that these products enjoyed. For this, it was expected that the last Council of Ministers before the general elections would meet the deadline set by Europe and give the green light to the relevant royal decree that modifies a previous regulation (Royal Decree 579/2017).
Experts have been demanding an update of the Comprehensive Smoking Plan for some time. It is an action guide “so that it is already accepted by all scientific societies (45). You just have to pass it on to the Public Health Commission and the Interterritorial Council. It is a plan for 2021-2025 and we are already in 2023” , lamented a few days ago in this medium Andrs Zamorano, National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT).
Peter Shepherd, member of the National Council of the Spanish Association Against Cancer and president of the association in Cáceres, exposes the needs that arise from the legislative gap that the new forms of smoking take advantage of to reach new audiences: the youngest. “Publicizing that heated tobacco or vapers generate healthier smoke is very dangerous for our society. For our children and for our grandchildren. There is already scientific evidence that shows that vapers are not innocuous for health. They are addictive.”
Measures against smoking, a pending issue
In this area there is still much to be done because 44 countries lack any of the measures established by the WHO and 53 have not yet completely banned smoking in health centers. Meanwhile, only around half of the countries have smoke-free spaces in workplaces and hospitality.
“WHO urges all countries to implement all MPower measures at the level of best practices for fighting the tobacco epidemic, which kills 8.7 million people worldwideand push back against the tobacco and nicotine industries, which are lobbying against these public health measures,” explains Ruediger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion.
About 1.3 million people die each year from passive consumption. All deaths are preventable. Passive smokers run the risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
This report demonstrates that all countries, regardless of income level, can reduce demand for tobacco and save the economy billions of dollars in health care costs and productivity.
From the Netherlands, Maarten van Ooijen, its Secretary of State for Health, Wellness and Sport, explains that “civil society organisations, health experts and medical professionals are big driving forces behind everything we are achieving with respect to tobacco control in our country, although we are making progress in reducing the prevalence and improving our tobacco control policy”. In addition, it stresses that they will continue “fighting for a smoke-free generation by 2040.”
Smoke-free public spaces are only one of the policies of the set of effective measures of tobacco control, MPower, to help countries implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and curb the tobacco epidemic.
Los smoke-free environments They help people breathe clean air, protect the public from passive consumption, motivate people to quit, denormalize smoking, and help prevent young people from starting to smoke or use electronic cigarettes.
“Yes ok smoking rates have decreasedtobacco remains the world’s leading preventable cause of death, largely due to the tobacco industry’s relentless marketing campaigns,” insists Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries and founder from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
What are the strategies required by the WHO in its anti-smoking policies?
This is a series of interventions that puts effort into applying the most effective reduction measures set out in the WHO FCTC that have been shown to reduce tobacco use. The measurements are collectively known as MPower.
These policies have been shown to save lives and reduce the costs of avoided health spending. There are six tobacco control strategies in line with the WHO FCTC to:
– Monitor tobacco consumption and prevention policies.
– Protect people from tobacco smoke.
– Offer help to stop using tobacco.
– Warn people about the dangers of tobacco.
– Enforce the bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
– Increase taxes on tobacco.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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