Dear CHIFA colleagues,
For background on this discussion see: https://www.hifa.org/news/hifa-launches-deep-dive-discussion-tobacco-27-...
I am forwarding below a HIFA message from tobacco control expert Eduardo Bianco to introduce Question 4, our theme for the coming week. The main discussion is taking place on our sister forum HIFA (www.hifa.org) but clearly this subject is highly relevant to child health. Tobacco use by parents and others damages children's health directly. What is the level of this harm and to what extent are policymakers aware? Also, users of tobacco typically start in late childhood (age 14-16), quickly entrapping themselves into decades of addiction and avoidable suffering and premature death. Tobacco companies spend a lot of money encouraging children to start smoking. To what extent are policymakers aware of these issues? And why is it that the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, signed by nearly every country in the world, and which includes provisions to protect children, has been so poorly implemented in so many countries?
Here is the message from Eduardo. In particular I note his comment: "many health professionals and most politicians are still not fully aware of the magnitude, nature, and characteristics of the tobacco problem (including the role of the tobacco industry) and effective tobacco control interventions"
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Q4. Do public health professionals and policymakers have adequate knowledge to prevent and treat tobacco addiction in their country? What are current national policies and what more can be done to fully implement those policies?
Tobacco consumption is the main cause of death, absolutely preventable, worldwide. Quitting smoking is the most important health decision smokers can make.
Facing the tobacco epidemic is very difficult - mainly in developing countries - due to the addictiveness of nicotine, large economic interests and the undue influence of the tobacco industry.
To deal with smoking, the WHO promoted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first international health treaty under its auspices, which entered into force internationally in 2005. Today, 183 Parties, covering 90% of the world population, are members. The WHO FCTC contains evidence-based provisions such as: increasing tobacco taxes and prices; smoke-free environments; graphic health warnings on packaging; prohibition of advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco, help smokers to quit smoking and carry out campaigns in the media, among others. .
The WHO-FCTC is having a significant impact. However, progress is uneven and, in some countries, very slow. It faces several challenges: weak commitment from governments, inadequate public awareness of the harms of smoking, the illicit tobacco trade, scarce financial resources to help quit smoking, and weak research capacity. But his biggest hurdle is interference from the tobacco industry.
Health professionals (HP), given their influence in society, have a prominent role to play in tobacco control and smoking cessation.
But by themselves they will not achieve a significant impact on public health. It is necessary to learn to involve politicians, who are key in the design and approval of effective tobacco control policies.
In societies where most of these indicated interventions were applied in a short time, as in my country Uruguay, rapid reductions in smoking are achieved, mainly among young people, which decreased from 30% to almost 10% in about ten years. The National Medical Association (SMU) played a key role.
Unfortunately, many health professionals and most politicians are still not fully aware of the magnitude, nature, and characteristics of the tobacco problem (including the role of the tobacco industry) and effective tobacco control interventions .
I hope this discussion will help us all better understand the tobacco control situation in our respective countries, and help improve it.
Dr. Eduardo Bianco
HIFA Profile-Spanish: Eduardo Bianco is the Director of International Policy on Addiction Education at the Frank Foundation for International Health, Uruguay. Interests: Cessation and treatment of smoking, Tobacco Control Policies, Addictions, Non-Communicable Diseases. Email: ebianco AT nextgenu.org
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CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
