CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
A smoking-free generation
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1
Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
2
Victor Babes Clinical Hospital, Timisoara, Romania
Publication date: 2023-10-08
Tob. Prev. Cessation 2023;9(Supplement 2):A26
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Tobacco use and exposure is the most common cause of preventable death and disease around the world, claiming more than 8 millions of lives every year.
The majority of current smokers report that the most defenseless age for future nicotine addiction is the adolescence, when youth are very vulnerable, with a faster progression to smoking dependence and an exposure which raise critical concerns.
Tobacco use disorder arises from a complex interaction of neurobiological, behavioral, and social-environmental factors. Furthermore, almost 40% of children with ages up to 11 are regularly exposed to secondhand smoking in United States and data shows that these rates are increasing yearly.
Helping youth to quit tobacco is extremely important. There are many interventions for tobacco cessation around young generation and continuous research is needed. Some studies claimed that healthcare providers should advise people to stop smoking in front of their children. While almost half of our children breathe a tobacco polluted air and more than 65000 young people die every year because of second-hand smoke related illnesses, prevention is considered to be the key to protect the youth.
There are several recommendations for pediatricians about limiting and treating nicotine dependence among children and adolescents. The US Public Health Service advocates tobacco screening as primary psychosocial assessment among teenagers. Stopping smoking initiation among youth it is much easier than treating it. Education and counseling school-aged children could be the key to decrease the rates for tobacco user and disorders.
Moreover, pharmacotherapy could be considered as a part of the treatment for smoking cessation even for younger age groups, but the challenge comes with enrollment and treatment adherence.
Furthermore, the new devices called e-cigarettes which can contain nicotine or not are extremely harmful and undoubtedly unsafe. These products are very dangerous for our health, even though their exact long-term effects are not known completely.
While tobacco companies are taking steps ahead with new e-cigarettes and vaping devices, health organizations and multi-disciplinary medical teams around the world need to work together for developing a smoking free generation.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.