The Department of Health announced the launch of Tobacco Free Month for the second year in a row. Agnès Buzyn has the ambition to change the image of tobacco.
Smokers, get ready to hang up your pack of cigarettes. From 1er November, the French health authorities issue a challenge to 16 million consumers: drop your lighter for at least a month.
For the second year, the Tobacco Free Month operation has been launched, under the aegis of Public Health France. And the government has decided to go all out for this edition, as it showed at a launch press conference. And for good reason: quitting smoking for a month increases the chances of quitting completely by five.
Fan zones
During the month of November, the collective spirit will be in order. On social networks, each smoker wishing to quit can join teams. Either according to themes, or according to the region of residence.
Always with a view to stimulating the crowds, the health authorities have chosen to resume the system of “Fan zones”, created on the occasion of the Euro football. And everyone should find their account. On the program: information, meetings with health professionals, workshops… Enough to make quitting smoking fun. The ” fan zone »Will travel the roads of France, starting with Paris on October 24th. She will then move every two days to finish her journey in Metz.
.@AgnesBuzyn start the operation #Tobacco-Free Month: in November, we stop together!
?? The press release @santeprevention: https://t.co/UTtIghxeVm pic.twitter.com/11nt3K6O9Q– MinSolidaritésSanté (@MinSoliSante) October 9, 2017
A package of 150 euros
If Public Health France places so much emphasis on group dynamics, it is because it is drawing lessons from the previous edition of the Tobacco Free Month. “It emerges from the first analyzes of this operation that the collective is one of the dimensions to be favored, it is moreover the common thread of the 2017 edition”, explains François Bourdillon, Director General of Public Health France.
Beyond the fun aspect, the event is also an opportunity to win for many smokers. In 2016, 180,000 French people responded to the authorities’ challenge. Health Insurance, for its part, has seen requests for reimbursement of nicotine substitutes increase by two-thirds. As a reminder, a fixed price of 150 euros per person is covered.
Changing the image of tobacco
For the Minister of Health, “November without tobacco” is also an opportunity to emphasize the risks of this consumption. In fact, only four in ten French people see tobacco as dangerous.
1 objective: 500k smokers per year, ?? 23% smokers by 2022. Above all: change the image of tobacco, eradicate it as a social norm.
– Agnes Buzyn (@agnesbuzyn) October 9, 2017
“Tobacco kills, but slowly,” said Agnès Buzyn during the press conference. Its delayed damage prevents us from being fully aware of its risks. Yet the facts are there: one in two smokers will eventually die from causes directly related to their addiction.
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