With this objective, the General Directorate of Public Health has produced two videos that will be disseminated through social networks.
The first, under the campaign slogan ‘Do you commit to quitting smoking?’, Invites you to stop and think about your personal reasons for making this decision and to make an attempt with professional support.
The second of the videos aims to inform about the news regarding the regulation, indicating in which places smoking is not allowed, trying to denormalize the consumption of tobacco and to protect the entire population from second-hand smoke.
In this area, the COVID-19 pandemic has served to consolidate great advances in the establishment of smoke-free spaces, making Cantabria one of the first autonomous communities to ban smoking on terraces and with 100% of the beaches free of smoke. tobacco, the Government has highlighted in a statement.
In addition to social networks, with the aim of getting information to visitors, these videos will be broadcast throughout the summer both on the Santander urban bus line (TUS), and on the screens of the bus station in the Cantabrian capital. They have also been translated into English so that the message better reaches foreign tourists visiting our community.
ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT
Cantabria has in Primary Care a protocol for tackling smoking, which offers support to quit smoking both individually and in groups. It also has the assistance support of the Specialized Unit for Smoking Cessation (UDESTA), which is referred by the doctor or midwife.
According to 2020 data, 4,531 people started treatment to quit smoking in Primary Care, 92.8% of them with prescription of drug treatment (which since January 2 of that same year is funded by the National System of health).
In addition, during the past year 43,620 people over 14 years of age were asked about tobacco consumption, of which 17.4% turned out to be smokers, the percentage being higher in men (19.8%) than in women (15 , 7%).
For its part, the UDESTA received a total of 588 referrals in 2020, and 424 patients attended treatment. Abstinence at six months was 21.6%.
The patients referred to this Unit meet criteria of high dependency, severe pathologies, consumption of other drugs, psychiatric pathology, pregnancy or several relapses in previous attempts with professional help.
EFFECTS OF SMOKING
As for the effects of smoking, its impact is well known, killing more than 50,000 people in Spain each year and more than eight million in the world.
The association between tobacco consumption and Covid-19 is noteworthy, with those who smoke a greater risk of suffering more severe consequences of the infection, as well as a greater chance of dying.
Smokers have more respiratory symptoms and more often need to be admitted to Intensive Care Units or mechanical ventilation. In addition, those who already suffer from a disease related to tobacco use, such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes or COPD, have a worse prognosis if they are infected.
The increase in tobacco use in women has caused mortality from malignant tumors of the trachea, bronchi and lung to exceed that of breast cancer in many countries. This has happened in Cantabria, where the former have increased their mortality by 300% since 2000. In men they are also the most numerous, followed by other ischemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases.
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