What if we were able to protect everyone born in the world between 2006 and 2010 from the interests of the tobacco industry so that they would never start smoking? According to a study published in ‘The Lancet Public Health’, banning the sale of tobacco to new generations could prevent 1.2 million deaths from lung cancer worldwide. The research, carried out by experts from the University of Santiago de Compostela and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), indicates that the creation of a tobacco-free generation could have a profound impact on public health.
The simulation study—the first of its kind—projects that banning the purchase of cigarettes and tobacco products for those born between 2006 and 2010 would reduce nearly half of future lung cancer deaths in men (45.8%) and approximately one third in women (30.9%) within this cohort. This ban, if implemented, could prevent almost two-thirds (65.1%) of deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and 61.1% of deaths in high-income countries.
“Lung cancer continues to be one of the main causes of mortality worldwide, and two thirds of these deaths are related to smoking, a preventable risk factor,” indicates Julia Rey Brandariz, from the University of Santiago de Compostela. “Creating a tobacco-free generation could save a large number of lives and reduce pressure on health systems that currently face enormous challenges in addressing problems derived from smoking.”
But according to this model, the impact of this policy would not be uniform around the world.
In the case of men, the greatest number of preventable deaths would occur in upper-middle-income countries, particularly in central and eastern Europe, where up to 74.3% of deaths could be avoided. Among women, the greatest impact would be recorded in high-income countries, with a reduction of 77.7% in Western Europe.
This type of innovative legislation could represent a crucial change in reducing lung cancer mortality in the long term
IARC’s Isabelle Soerjomataram highlights the importance of this approach in low- and middle-income countries, where smoking is still common and youth populations are growing. “Eliminating smoking in these regions could save many more lives, given the demographic context and high rates of tobacco consumption,” he noted.
Although the study presents promising results, the authors warn about possible difficulties in implementing these policies.
black market
The existence of a black market for tobacco and low compliance with the ban are risks that could reduce the effectiveness of the measures. Additionally, lack of data in some regions limited the study’s predictions to 82 countries, and factors such as e-cigarette use were not considered.
At the moment, No country prohibits the sale of tobacco to new generationsalthough New Zealand had attempted to implement a similar law for those born after 2009, which was recently repealed. This type of innovative legislation could represent a crucial change in reducing long-term lung cancer mortality.
Ultimately, the study suggests that a global policy to create a tobacco-free generation could have a transformative impact on global public health, preventing a significant proportion of lung cancer deaths and reducing the burden that smoking imposes on health systems. of health.
Although lung cancer is not the only disease caused by the use of tobacco and nicotine products, says Josep Maria Suelves, head of the Smoking and Injury Prevention and Control Service at the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, the results of this study help to understand why smoking continues to be one of the main preventable causes of poverty, suffering and loss of health around the world, causing the death of eight million human beings each year.
Throughout the 21st century, recalls this expert from the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking, the World Health Organization and numerous states have begun to promote tobacco prevention and control policies that are bearing fruit in some countries, the most advanced of which are beginning to consider the possibility of limiting access to tobacco to those born after a certain date.
In Spain, most of these measures are necessary and must begin to be implemented urgently.
«Envision a new stage of public health policies to reach the first tobacco-free generations – what is known as End Game– It is not a chimera nor can one rely exclusively on the effectiveness of the prohibition of the sale of tobacco to those born after a certain date, but rather it requires continuing to promote other measures of well-demonstrated effectiveness such as increasing the price of tobacco products. tobacco, the introduction of plain packaging, the expansion of spaces in which smoking is prohibited or the regulation of new products with tobacco and nicotine with which multinational tobacco companies seek to attract new addicts in adolescence. points out Suelves Science Media Center.
In Spain, he concludes, “where tobacco causes more than 50,000 deaths annually, most of these measures are necessary and must begin to be implemented urgently as the scientific community has been demanding and public institutions have announced.”