1ST CITY CLINICAL HOSPITAL

May 31st – World No Tobacco Day

31.05.2024

From May 29 to June 17, 2024, the annual republican anti-tobacco information and educational campaign “Belarus against tobacco” is held in our country. As part of the campaign, days of open information, consultations of the population in healthcare institutions of the republic, and the operation of hotlines on smoking prevention issues are held.

The anti-tobacco campaign of the Republic of Belarus is aimed at informing the population about the harmful health consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke, and the formation of sustainable measures among civil society aimed at combating tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoking prevention in our country is carried out:

• with the involvement of representatives of healthcare organizations, educational institutions, culture, sports and tourism, law enforcement agencies, public organizations;
• by holding days of open information;
• by consulting the population in healthcare institutions, education and enterprises, and the media. According to the World Health Organization (hereinafter referred to as WHO), more than 8 million people die every year from the consequences of tobacco use

All forms of tobacco use are harmful to health and there is no harmless dose of tobacco. The most common form of tobacco use in the world is smoking cigarettes. Other types of tobacco products include hookah tobacco, cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, and heated tobacco products, which are also toxic and contain carcinogens.

In our country, on every pack of tobacco products, on any external packaging and in the labeling of such products, there are warnings about the dangers of smoking to health, about the harmful consequences of their use, there is a ban on advertising and promotion of sales, sponsorship of tobacco products.

Persons suffering from nicotine addiction are provided with medical assistance. To treat nicotine addiction, medicinal, non-medicinal methods and their combination are used: smoking cessation programs based on behavioral and cognitive psychotherapy, pharmacological treatment in the form of nicotine replacement therapy.

Implementing strict tobacco control influences public opinion. Monitoring the smoking problem is critical to informing the public. A key imperative is to protect children from the negative effects of second-hand smoke. Tobacco use is being denormalized by increasing its social unacceptability. Measures taken as part of the fight against smoking by the Republic of Belarus:

• requirements for packaging of tobacco and nicotine-containing products;
• ban on advertising and sponsorship of mass entertainment events by tobacco manufacturers;
• restriction of sales, including through vending machines, as well as public display of tobacco products; 
• creation of smoke-free outdoor areas (school grounds, sports stadiums, parks, beaches);
• educating families about ways to reduce indoor air pollution associated with smoking, which puts children at risk;
• protecting public health policies from commercial and other interests of the tobacco industry;
• adoption of price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco;
• regulation of the composition of tobacco products;
• helping people prevent their addiction to tobacco;
• control of illicit trade in tobacco products;
• ban on the sale of tobacco products to minors.

The above measures are producing results, and in recent years there has been a steady decline in tobacco consumption. However, a lot depends on each individual person, his desire for health and giving up bad habits, including the consumption of tobacco and nicotine-containing products.

Prepared based on materials from the sites https://minzdrav.gov.by, https://adu.by