Tobacco: a preventable cause of cancer

Worldwide, cancer is on the increase and so are tobacco-related cancers, the Malta College of Family Doctors said on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day yesterday.

Since 1975, lung cancer rates have doubled worldwide, it said.

Already 1.4 million people die of lung cancer every year but tobacco is also a cause of other cancers, including those of the mouth, head and neck, kidneys, pancreas and uterine cervix.

Tobacco is, therefore, a major preventable cause of cancer. It accounts for one in five of all cancers worldwide and the toll is set to rise.

The college said it shared the aspiration of the International Union Against Cancer, which envisages a world in which cancer is no longer a major life-threatening disease. It also recognised that tackling cancer required concerted action to curb tobacco use.

In order to cut down on Malta's one-death-a-day associated with smoking, the college advised family physicians and healthcare professionals to warn patients not to smoke.

It highlighted the key actions on tobacco of the World Health Organisation Code of Practice for Health Professional Organisations. These include speaking out on the health effects of tobacco and advising tobacco users to stop; engaging their membership and resources in tobacco control and supporting the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The WHO code also emphasises the importance of shunning partnerships with the tobacco industry, which pursues profit at the expense of people's health and lives.

The college said it supported the principles and purpose of the WHO code of practice and urged other health and cancer organisations to do the same. It commended those governments, including Malta's, that have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.