Every May 31, World No Tobacco Day recalls the dangers, including fatal ones, of tobacco on health. Professor Yves Martinet, president of the CNCT, answers the questions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners celebrate World No Tobacco Day on May 31. The purpose of this event is to highlight the health risks associated with smoking and to advocate for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. In this battle against tobacco, France is a model. The Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, will even receive a prize from the UN agency for the introduction of the neutral package among French tobacconists, a first in Europe.
On this occasion, Why actor questioned the Prof. Yves Martinet. The president of the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) answers the questions everyone has about tobacco.
2 times fewer smokers in the USA than in France
The popularity of cigarettes is declining in the United States. In the space of a year, the share of Americans who smoke has increased from 16.8% to 15.1%. A decline which continues the marked trend since 1997. At that time, a quarter of the country’s inhabitants smoked. On the other hand, the distribution across the Atlantic does not vary according to these latest data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) : men are still more numerous than women to burn cigarettes (16.7% against 13.6%).
Figures to make the French health authorities green with jealousy, since in France, nearly a third of the population smokes.
For Professor Yves Martinet, “the problem is that France has laws, but which are not applied”. He cites for example the ban on the sale of tobacco to minors “not respected”, ditto for the total prohibition of tobacco in bars and restaurants, “for which there is almost no control”, he regrets. .
Finally, in some states of the United States, he reminds us that the price of tobacco is very high. He believes this may discourage some smokers.
Yves Martinet, President of the CNCT: ” In California, there is a $ 3 per capita investment in tobacco control. In France, it’s 15 cents… “
Johan Cruyff dies of tobacco 25 years after quitting
Many football fans still have the footballing exploits of Johan Cruyff in mind. The Dutch player unfortunately died at the end of March from lung cancer. Aged 68, the emblematic captain of the Netherlands had nevertheless stopped smoking in 1991, at the age of 44, after having undergone a heart operation.
To explain these pathologies linked to tobacco which appear so many years after stopping the substance, Professor Yves Martinet confides: “when you stop smoking, the risk of lung cancer decreases, but there is always a residual risk. “. “This is because when we smoke, we have changes in the bronchial epithelium, the lining of the bronchi, which empower themselves and can turn into cancer,” he says.
Cancer: why mortality is on the rise in women
In addition, the data from the 2014 Inpes Health Barometer brought their share of good news. The number of regular French smokers (who smoke every day) fell for the first time since 2010, from 29.1% in 2010 to 28.2% in 2014. Tobacco consumption among women aged 20 to 25 in particular rose from 39% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2014 and from 35.7% to 28.7% for women aged 26 to 34. However, in this same population, lung cancer continues to advance, according to a study published in Annals of Oncology. How to explain it?
For Professor Yves Martinet, “there is a time lag between the moment you start to smoke and the moment when lung cancer occurs”. “There is a certain inertia in lung cancer,” admits this specialist.
“With tobacco, the lucky ones get by, like in Verdun …”
In France, each year, 47,000 smokers die from cancer, including 28,000 from lung cancer, 20,000 from cardiovascular disease and 11,000 from respiratory diseases. Despite these maddening figures, each French person has a heavy smoker in his or her circle who displays flamboyant health. From there to saying that some are protected against tobacco, there is only one step that Professor Yves Martinet does not take. “It’s luck,” he blurted out. “It’s a bit like on the battlefield in Verdun. Many died there, but not everyone ”. Faced with this part of randomness, the pulmonologist (1) indicates that there is no doubt also a part of genetics, “even if familial lung cancer is very rare, unlike breast or colon cancer”.
“Finally, we know that occupational exposures play a role,” he adds.
Yves Martinet, President of the CNCT: ” If you are exposed to asbestos, but don’t smoke, you have an X risk of lung cancer. If you smoke… “
Tobacco worsens social inequalities
In a document on his site, the CNCT recalls that people from less advantaged socio-professional categories are more likely to smoke and less likely to quit. The heaviest smokers are the poorest, he laments. Thus, in France, while the average prevalence is 30%, the share of manual workers and unemployed is 43 and 49% respectively.
There is also a strong link between diploma, employment, income and smoking status: the less educated are on average 45% to smoke while this proportion is limited to 26% for people with a university degree.
According to Professor Yves Martinet, this phenomenon is not easy to explain, especially as tobacco prices continue to increase. “What is certain is that public health messages pass less well in these classes. It is observed in all countries of the world. They are less well understood and these classes have less confidence in the expertise of some ”. “This does not only concern smoking but also other health-related behaviors, such as alcohol for example,” he concludes.
(1) Head of the Pneumology department at the CHU de Nancy
On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, the National Cancer Institute (INCa) makes available to health professionals (surgeons, anesthetists, medical oncologists, organ specialists, general practitioners, nurses) a new tool to help their patients to stop smoking.
This guide provides the keys to better understand the benefits of quitting smoking for patients, takes stock of misconceptions and specifies the modalities and different levels of possible intervention to promote smoking cessation in sick people. of a cancer.
This action is in line with the objectives of the 2014-2019 Cancer Plan, which provides for the systematization of support for smoking cessation in the care of cancer patients.
.
