The recent initiatives announced in New Zealand and the United Kingdom to prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors born after a certain date have put on the table the possibility of using this strategy to stop mortality from lung cancer. A work published this Thursday in the magazine The Lancet Public Health has put numbers to measure and estimates that prohibiting tobacco for people born between 2006 and 2010 would prevent 1,186,500 premature deaths from this cause in 285 countries between now and 2095.
The work, led by researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), as well as other international collaborators, suggests that creating a tobacco-free generation could prevent almost half of future deaths from lung cancer in men and about a third in women. In addition, if the measure is applied, around two-thirds of all deaths from lung cancer would be avoided.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. It is the largest risk factor for lung cancer and is estimated to cause more than two-thirds of the 1.8 million deaths from this disease each year. “Our model highlights how much can be gained by governments that consider implementing ambitious plans to create a tobacco-free generation,” says Julia Rey Brandariz, from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). “This could not only save a large number of lives, but could also greatly reduce the pressure on health systems to treat and care for people with health problems as a result of smoking.”
Creating a tobacco-free generation could prevent almost half of future lung cancer deaths in men and about a third in women
Currently, no country has laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to young people. New Zealand’s groundbreaking legislation to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or later was recently repealed and the UK is considering implementing it from 2027.
More impact in poor countries
One of the highlights of the study is that in low- and middle-income countries, which have rapidly growing youth populations, the impact of banning tobacco sales could be even greater. “Smoking also remains very common in many of these countries, while rates have decreased in many high-income countries,” says Isabelle Soerjomataram of IARC. “While we must redouble our efforts to eliminate smoking in all parts of the world, this is especially important in low- and middle-income countries.”
Smoking also remains very common in many of these countries, while rates have decreased in many high-income countries.
Isabelle Soerjomataram
— IARC
The authors acknowledge some limitations of their study. There was limited data, for example, on lung cancer rates among people who have never smoked, some from before the 2000s, which could affect estimates as rates may have changed due to improvements in medical care. And the predictions also did not take into account the use of electronic cigarettes.
Future lung cancer mortality rates were predicted based on historical data from 82 countries registered in the WHO Mortality Database, while the number of preventable lung cancer deaths related to smoking was calculated using data on lung cancer deaths among never-smokers from a previous study.
1,186,500 preventable deaths
Although it seems a bit abstract, the figure of 1,186,500 premature deaths refers to children and adolescents who will turn 18 before 2029 and who will die from this cause in the future if their incorporation into tobacco consumption continues at the current rate. recalls Josep Maria Suelves, head of the Smoking and Injury Prevention and Control Service at the Public Health Agency of Catalonia and member of the Board of Directors of the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking.
In Spain, where tobacco causes more than 50,000 deaths annually, most of these measures are necessary
Josep Maria Suelves
— Member of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia and National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking
In his opinion, one cannot rely exclusively on the effectiveness of the prohibition on the sale of tobacco to those born after a certain date, but rather requires continuing to promote other measures of well-proven effectiveness, such as increasing the price of tobacco products. , the introduction of plain packaging, the expansion of spaces in which smoking is prohibited. “In Spain,” says Suelves in statements to the SMC, “where tobacco causes more than 50,000 deaths annually, most of these measures are necessary and must begin to be implemented urgently as the scientific community has been demanding and public institutions have been announcing. ”.
In fact, accelerating action to eliminate smoking could help increase life expectancy and prevent millions of premature deaths by 2050, according to the results of a modeling study published in The Lancet Public Health this Thursday. These analyzes indicate that accelerating measures to eliminate smoking globally would increase life expectancy by one year among men and 0.2 years among women and prevent millions of premature deaths, which would translate into 876 million fewer years. of life lost.
Source: www.eldiario.es
