The Minister of Health, José Miñones, has called on all administrations, professionals and society as a whole to continue working in favour of the commitment to achieve a smoke-free generation.
This was underlined during his speech at the opening ceremony of the 9th European Conference “Tobacco or Health” (ECToH), organised by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) and the Spanish Committee for Smoking Prevention, in collaboration with the Association of the European League Against Cancer (ECL) and which HM Queen Letizia chaired.
The Minister of Health has highlighted the implications for health and the environment that tobacco consumption and smoking entail, underlining the challenge posed by the goal of the “Generation without Tobacco” included in the European Plan to Fight Cancer.
In this sense, he has also valued the contributions to the Public Consultation launched by the Ministry of Health to be able to transpose the European Directives, harmonising the work of the Commission on the current legislative framework for the control of tobacco and related products.
As Miñones has recalled, smoking is one of the main causes of preventable disease and death throughout the world, as indicated by the Framework Convention of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Prevention of Smoking; a document that, more than two decades ago, paved the way to raise awareness about the seriousness that tobacco use, especially early use, represents for public health.
In this sense, he has highlighted the importance of preventive actions to avoid the development of diseases and a multitude of clinical forms such as ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, lower respiratory tract infections, COPD, tuberculosis, diabetes or cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung.
Thus, he emphasised the need to continue promoting actions in favour of promoting healthy lifestyle habits, the commitment to healthy cities and smoke-free spaces, especially among the child and adolescent population.
Consensus at international level
The Minister of Health has celebrated the international consensus achieved against tobacco and smoking, in the case of the European Code against Cancer, where two of its twelve recommendations are directly related to tobacco.
A field, moreover, that will be present on the health agenda of the next Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, with scheduled debates on reducing the consumption of tobacco and related products and on environmental exposure to emissions.
Likewise, in the month of November the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will be held in Panama, a forum in which progress will continue in the global objectives against smoking.
The Minister of Health also had words of gratitude for scientists, researchers, clinical and healthcare professionals, scientific societies and associations that work to raise awareness about the consequences of tobacco, both for health and for the environment or that are dedicated to treat derived pathologies.
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