Community-Based Smoking Cessation Programs: A Way Forward?

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Bukunmi Gesinde¹ 

[1] Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teacher's College, Columbia University, United States

关键词: vaping;    e-cigarettes;    public health;    smoking;    cancer;    nicotine;    health inequity;    health education;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2019.00364

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

In 1950, the association between tobacco smoking and lung cancer risk was first reported (1).Almost 70 years later, it is widely accepted tobacco smoking has a causal relationship for severaltypes of cancer. In 2004, tobacco smoking was officially classified as “carcinogenic to humans” [(1),p. 1]. Cancer develops when the normal processes that regulate human cell behavior are affectedby tobacco fail and rogue cells grow uncontrollably. However, there is a considerable discrepancybetween awareness and committing to smoking cessation and the actual behavior.Despite the widespread availability of tobacco cessation public health campaigns, tobaccosmoking continues to be one of the main preventable causes of ill-health and premature mortalityworldwide. While the general public is aware of the “risks of cigarette smoking, they underestimate”the “addictive nature of cigarette smoking” [(2), p. i14]. Smokers “openly acknowledge the harmthey are doing to themselves and many report that they do not enjoy it—yet” they continue to do so[(3), p. 1018]. This occurs because nicotine in cigarettes is a “highly addictive tobacco constituentthat is primarily responsible for the maintenance of cigarette smoking” [(2), p. i14].In July of 2018, the American Public Health Association, Society for Public Health Education(SOPHE), and 38 other public health organizations who recognize tobacco as a preventable causeof illness, actively supported a proposed ruling by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) toreduce nicotine levels in tobacco products to a minimally addictive or non-addictive level. TheFDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mission to reduce tobacco related deathand disease involves public health education campaigns such as Tips From Former Smokers, FreshEmpire Campaign and Every Try Counts Campaign (4, 5). Of note, the Fresh Empire Campaigndiscourages multicultural youth from tobacco consumption which is often portrayed as a norm inthe “hip-hop” demographic.

【 授权许可】

CC BY