World No Tobacco Day
INTERVENTION OF HEALTH
PROFESSIONALS CRUCIAL IN REDUCING 1500 LUNG CANCER DEATHS IN
IRELAND.
In Ireland 1500 people die from lung cancer every year and this
figure will not drop for the next twenty years unless some of those
who presently smoke give up their habit.
Speaking on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2005, Professor
Luke Clancy, Chairman of ASH and Director General of the Research
Institute for a Tobacco Free Society, stated "25% of the Irish
population smoke. If the figure of deaths from lung cancer is to
decrease many of these people have to give up their habit. It is
not enough to stop people from beginning to smoke we must help
those already addicted to tobacco. Their doctor and other health
professionals have a key role to play in this important work."
Professor Clancy goes on to say "A brief intervention by a doctor
in helping a person to stop smoking is one of the key health
interventions any doctor can make".
The high cost of cigarettes and the workplace ban on smoking
does not seem to be enough to discourage some of those who already
smoke. A pro active intervention by health professionals, however
brief, has been shown to be the most effective way to help
individuals to stop according to a statement from the European
Network of Smoking prevention. Health professionals are in contact
with a high percentage of the population. They can encourage at an
individual level, educate at a community level and, at a society
level, add their voices to the call for tighter smoking controls.
They should set an example for their patients to follow.
Education of children, adolescents and young adults is vital in
an anti smoking campaign and the role that health professionals
play in this area cannot be over emphasised.
The new "Help - for a life without tobacco" EU anti-smoking
campaign will be associated to the 2005 World No Tobacco Day
through the launch of a major television campaign covering the 25
Member states.