Tobacco use continues to increase despite the increased risk of Covid-19

Tobacco use has not decreased, although the data shows that smokers are at up to a 50% risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19. Every year, Portugal records about 13,000 new cases of tobacco-related cancer.

Rita Tilis Branco of the Portuguese Cancer Association regrets that nothing has changed with the epidemic. On the contrary, the anxiety caused by Covid-19 may have backfired.

“Whoever smokes, I think he continued to smoke and did not take the opportunity to stop anything, because he is really more anxious and more nervous,” he began by saying Renaissance.

As an institution, he says the goal now “is to seize the opportunity to talk to young people and children early and before that – and we’re talking about 11, 12, 13-year-olds, which is when we start – about the harm cigarettes do.”

A cigarette contains 7,000 chemical compounds, 70 of which are carcinogens. And we’re not just talking about lung cancer, we’re talking about 30 different types of cancer linked to tobacco consumption, ”he warns.

It also confirms that the epidemic has led to a decrease in anti-smoking counseling and warns of dire consequences in the future. “It is clear that everything has been delayed and removed, especially in the early stages of this epidemic. There are millions of postponed consultations in hospitals that are treating cancer. They have dire consequences for sure.”

The Portuguese Association for Cancer Control has also left a warning to smokers who have switched from traditional tobacco to vaporizer or heated tobacco. These alternatives to regular tobacco have not been shown to be less harmful, and it is not known what their long-term effects will be.

We cannot convey this picture until everything is healthier. There should be chemical compounds containing conventional cigarettes that may not appear in tobacco by-products, but are not a healthy thing, explains the official, who adds that it is not possible to “create a perception that we are replacing something that is causing us. This will harm us throughout life for a health cause.” unhealthy “.

Smoking killed 7.7 million people in 2019, the year the number of smokers increased to 1.1 billion, according to global estimates released last Friday, adding that 89% of new smokers were addicted at 25.

Higher taxes on tobacco, no more flavors like menthol, in all products containing nicotine, bans on tobacco advertisements on the Internet, including on social media, and more smoke-free places are measures aimed at preventing smoking among young people.