A call to sign and support the French campaign ‘call of the 100 000 against tobacco’ is currently open and has been officially endorsed by ERS. All health professionals, worldwide, are encouraged to support the campaign.
The call for support follows a successful event hosted by ERS in the European Parliament where member states were encouraged to adopt plain packaging as a measure to tackle the burden of tobacco-related disease.
France is one of the countries to have already adopted plain-packaging, and as an acknowledgement of the action needed to combat the many issues associated with tobacco consumption in France, the ‘call of the 100 000 against tobacco’ outlines the commitments needed from the health professional community, as well as specific calls to action for French presidential candidates moving forward, in advance of the upcoming elections.
The known impact of tobacco consumption in France is driving this campaign: there are around 78,000 deaths per year linked to tobacco; one in every two smokers dies prematurely; a smoker lives approximately 15 years less than a non-smoker; and the costs for health provisions is noted to be 25.9 billion euros per year – almost double the yield from taxes.
The commitments from health professionals are focused heavily on the need to effectively inform and support patients so that they understand the risks and consequences of smoking to them and to others, and to offer and provide the necessary tools or referrals to support them in quitting tobacco habits.
The calls to French presidential candidates focus on future-proofing the system – making sure the governing laws, and official plans and objectives prioritise a call against tobacco moving forward.