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20 May 2019
EU
Asthma , COPD
- Tobacco & Smoking

This World No Tobacco Day will be a great opportunity to reflect on the effects tobacco has on our respiratory health, as our lungs and airways will be in the spotlight during the day. Tobacco is the deadliest preventable source of disease. It causes a great deal of respiratory and non-respiratory diseases, like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cancer, and EFA will unveil results on the support asthma and COPD patients receive to quit smoking.

Raising awareness to harmful and deadly effects of tobacco

Every year on May 31, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and global partners celebrate World No Tobacco Day. The action day is an opportunity to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure. Active tobacco consumption and passive exposure to smoke is responsible for 7.2 million deaths annually.

Tobacco and Lung Health as cross-cutting topic

In 2019, World No Tobacco Day will focus on “tobacco and lung health”. It is a universal theme that goes beyond smoking, as tobacco poses threats to air quality indoors and outdoors and links up with international frameworks such as the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) framework and the Sustainable Development Goals.

In Europe, still 24 % of citizens can be considered as daily smokers. The aim of the day is to highlight the tobacco’s negative impact on people’s lung health. Further, it serves as a call to action, advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.

EFA welcomes and supports World No Tobacco Day

As the voice of the 200 million people living with allergy and airways diseases, EFA highly welcomes the topic of this year. Smoking is the main cause behind the development of COPD and also provokes allergic responses among babies and young children through second-hand smoke. Smoking is also associated with a higher degree of asthma severity and increased hospital admissions.

To support World No Tobacco Day, we will reveal new data from asthma and COPD patients on tobacco, and the support they receive to quit smoking. The Active Patients Access Care survey will be published in September.

More information on World No Tobacco Day can be found here.