INTERVIEW – An online appeal hopes to collect 100,000 signatures from healthcare professionals to improve tobacco control.
Michèle Delaunay wants to drive an unprecedented movement. MP PS launched an online appeal to health professionals against tobacco. The ex-oncologist hopes to bring together 100,000 of them around a document. The signatories commit to taking more action against smoking, and in a more targeted manner. They also challenge political leaders. They are called upon to apply the law more rigorously. At the dawn of the tobacco-free month, this document should be talked about. In the space of a few days, the Alliance Against Tobacco has collected the signatures of 1,400 healthcare professionals. In their ranks, the president of the Addiction Federation Jean-Pierre Couteron.
Why did you sign this appeal?
Jean-Pierre Couteron : Frankly speaking, we hesitated more on the form than the objective of the call. There is a somewhat injunctive style which is not always the most effective in addictology. But mobilizing to obtain a coherent policy vis-à-vis smoking, and converging actions to achieve it won. Tobacco control is a shared responsibility. It is interesting to include professions that might think that deciding is enough to get there. This is not the case in addictology. I hope he collects 100,000 signatures. We should get there.
What impact do you expect from the call?
Jean-Pierre Couteron : We are waiting for this to weigh on the political community. It is not this type of appeal that will weigh on public opinion. We must present a convergence of the major players in health, which must be taken into account. It is hoped that this will avoid the errors seen on alcohol, where what was gained on one side was lost on the other by the relaxation of the Evin law. We also hope to get a coherent message, the courage to develop a real policy and, in our opinion, to develop a real risk reduction policy.
Are current policies insufficient?
Jean-Pierre Couteron : A dynamic has started on tobacco, with a national plan to reduce smoking. But the success is more than relative. The last weekly epidemiological bulletin is not extraordinary. This poses the debate of price, risk reduction and the place left to vaping. We could have reached out to vapers in this call.
A few months before the presidential elections, do you think of integrating the debate?
Jean-Pierre Couteron : It’s good to try it. We know that the presidential campaign will cause a set of posture. If the 100,000 signatories are brought together, there will be an impact. The number can be overwhelming. This is why we are mobilizing. If everyone shows that this is a shared conviction of health professionals, it should weigh.
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