700,000 Health Professionals Pledge to Fight Tobacco

Organizations representing more than 700,000 health professionals in 30 countries of the Americas pledged to support tobacco control activities on this year's World No Tobacco Day, May 31, at the invitation of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

© Armando Waak/PAHO

In their Declaration of the Americas, the organizations also pledged to advocate for their countries' ratification and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

PAHO spearheaded the declaration to increase awareness and motivate health professionals to be on the front lines of efforts to reduce tobacco use, which claims more than a million lives every year in the Americas.

"No one sees the devastating effects of tobacco use on our populations as often and as close-up as dentists, pharmacists, physicians, and nurses. Their professional organizations have more reason and responsibility than anyone to lead prevention efforts," said PAHO Director Mirta Roses.

She added that health professionals' credibility with policymakers and the public makes their advocacy particularly effective.

The Declaration of the Americas includes a pledge for health professional organizations to reject tobacco industry support, to make their institutions tobacco-free, to promote inclusion of tobacco control topics in health professional curricula and conferences, to advocate for strong tobacco control policies, and to support their clients' efforts to quit smoking and to avoid secondhand smoke exposure.

Also on World No Tobacco Day, PAHO recognized individuals and organizations for their advocacy of tobacco control. The six award winners were the National Alliance for Tobacco Control of Uruguay; Ginés González García, minister of health of Argentina; Odessa Henriquez and the Honduras Medical Association; Paula Johns of the REDEH Human Development Network; Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada; and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Medical Association.

Special recognition for exceptional tobacco control journalism was given to the late David Brewster of the Trinidad and Tobago Express; Mario Cesar Carvalho of Folha de São Paulo, Brazil; and Carola Fuentes and Channel 13 of Chile.