One billion people will die this century from smoking related diseases
It was vital to get the message across that stopping smoking works, he said, as a quarter of those killed by smoking died between the ages of 35 and 69. Messages should be kept simple to be effective. 'The best thing to do in public health is to do what Basil Fawlty's wife did - state the bleeding obvious,' he said.
Those in public health were often so worried about sending out the wrong message to teenagers - that it's ok to start as long as you stop - that they failed to get the message across to adults that stopping smoking works.
Part of the problem, he said, was that people felt 'swamped with a deluge of trivia' from the news media about health scares, which meant that the one big killer could often be overlooked.
Worldwide, there were 30 million new smokers each year - 50 per cent of young men and 10 per cent of young women and, unless trends were reversed, that meant one billion people would die this century. 'If we want to do anything serious, we have to concentrate on adult cessation,' he said. 'Stopping does work, and that should be part of any strategy.'
Sir Richard Peto is professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Oxford. He received the Lord Cohen gold medal from the RSPH for outstanding medical research leading to major advances in health and reduction in disease. The award was presented by the Duke of Edinburgh.
This article comes from http://www.publichealthnews.com
Un miliard de oameni vor muri acest secol de boli legate de fumat - One billion people will die this century from smoking related diseases - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate