tobacco in focus
World No Tobacco Day is celebrated on May 31. "Commit to quit during COVID-19" is the motto of the global campaign for this 2021, promoted by the World Health Organization.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the world. It is an addictive and chronic disease, and its control requires adequate training of health professionals.
Doctors play a vital role in helping patients to quit smoking, and the strategies and interventions to overcome this addiction are based on scientific evidence. However, education on smoking, prevention, and treatment is still severely lacking in medical schools.
For this reason, a group of students of the Medicine career of the Federal University of Pampa Rio Grande do Sul Brazil (UNIPAMPA), in Brazil, developed a specific course, aimed at health science students and professionals concerned about the subject. This educational program offers the knowledge, skills and attitudes to monitor patients dependent on smoking in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The contents address general concepts on smoking, its historical evolution, epidemiology in Latin America and the world. Neurophysiological aspects and other risk factors associated with nicotine addiction are also analyzed.
The campaign on social networks: #Tabagismoempauta
We share some of the pieces of the campaign developed by a student from the Federal University of Pampa @tabagismoempauta referring to the impact of smoking and the environment.
Tobacco, from its cultivation to its consumption, is a major pollutant of the air, soil and water, and is responsible for much of the planet's deforestation.
Tobacco cultivation generates
- high demand and use of pesticides
- diffusion of carcinogenic substances into air and water
- production waste releases more than 7.000 different chemicals
To be marketed, the tobacco leaves are dried in large greenhouses. To do this, forests are devastated to supply the wood-burning ovens used in this process.
2 out of 3 cigarettes sold in the world are discarded in the environment.
Approximately 86% of smokers consider cigarette butts to be garbage. However, 75% of smokers throw their butts on the ground.
cigarette butts
- They accumulate in the environment and drain into drains, rivers, beaches, and oceans.
- Cigarette butts represent 30% of the garbage collected in urban cleaning
- More than 4,2 million cigarette butts were collected from beaches and canals around the world in 2019.
Deforestation
- approximately 600 million trees are felled annually by the tobacco industry;
- the tobacco plantation is a monoculture and areas are cleared to make room for tobacco planting;
- on average, each tree produces paper for 15 packs of cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes
- they generate waste that contains metals, plastics, batteries and toxic substances from inhaled products;
- there is no manufacturer's recommendation on its removal;
- there is no federal regulation on the destination and the correct flow of disposal and recycling of electronic cigarettes;
Want to quit smoking?
Consult a HappyAir Coach to help you design a plan that suits you. Enter today to happyair.org or send us an email to cuentanos@lovexair.com
Testimony
Learn about the history of Oscar, who had been smoking for 32 years, an average of between 15 and 20 cigarettes a day, and managed to quit this addiction As it did? Know your story
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