Il 31 maggio if you celebrate the World No Tobacco Day organized by the World Health Organization since 1988, to keep the attention high on the effects that smoking has on health. WHO data speak of almost 6 million people a year, worldwide, victims of smoking. Among these over 600,000 are non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke. Smoking is also called the “big killer”: it kills one person every six seconds.
THE LUNG PDTA. As for lung cancer, Companies health services in Ferrara, the Lung PDTA is active, a reception circuit that embraces the patient affected by this pathology from the beginning of the disease. Within the PDTA Polmone they collaborate different professional figures who welcome the physical and psychological needs of the patient and his family throughout the treatment process. Several specialists meet every week to discuss cases, defining a personalized treatment for each one.
Access to the course takes place upon notification by GPs – or other specialists – through a request for a pulmonary examination (in the notes “Pdta lung”). The patient is greeted byPneumology Outpatient Clinic of the Cona Hospital and, where subsequently indicated, by the Pneumological Day Hospital, which becomes the main point of reference for exams and visits. The professionals organize the necessary checks to arrive at a rapid and appropriate diagnosis and therapeutic pathway, necessary to make the best care choice. Each step is collectively agreed upon by the multidisciplinary team and the nurse case manager supports the patient at every stage of the process.
THE ANTI-SMOKING CENTERS OF THE USL COMPANY. The anti-smoking activity is coordinated, at the provincial level, by a group of professionals belonging to the Local Health Authority of Ferrarawhose coordination is entrusted to the dr. Nico Landi (Nursing and Technical Management) and to Dr. Alice Cunsolo (Psychiatric Rehabilitation Technician of the SerD of Copparo). These professionals are also members of the “Regional group of anti-smoking centers”a body that brings together the representatives of all the Emilia Romagna Ausl and which aims to coordinate the activity managed by the various local realities.
“After years of intense activity in the territories – comments Dr. Landi – with respect to the Anti-Smoking Centers of our province we are undergoing a profound reorganization with the establishment of operating points managed by several departments at the same time and not only by the SerD and Public Health. In fact, it is increasingly important to act on this problem in an integrated manner, precisely because cigarette smoking is a very dangerous pathological addiction whose effects have a negative impact on people’s lives, causing them transversal problems that undermine the functionality of the cardiovascular systems and respiratory, but substantially of the whole human organism. We are currently active in the Western District, precisely at the Casa della Salute of Pieve di Cento, while we are working for the Casa della Salute of Copparo and Portomaggiore. We already have numerous operators trained to conduct the courses, which aim to treat addiction through a cognitive behavioral approach, therefore aimed at changing lifestyle through the construction of a different way of interpreting the world and the events of the users’ lives , because only in this way is it possible to eradicate cigarettes from the life of smokers”.
THE SITUATION IN EMILIA – ROMAGNA*. In our region About a quarter (24%) of adults aged 18-69 smoke cigarettes, an estimated 710,000 people; the regional value is in line with the national one (24%). Smoking habits start early: the HBSC survey of adolescents (2022) shows that 1% of 11-year-olds, 6% of 13-year-olds and 24% of 15-year-olds smoke cigarettes; the percentage rises to 31% among 18-24 year olds. After the age of 50, the prevalence of smokers decreases progressively: it is 21% among 50-69 year olds, 14% among 70-79 year olds and 4% after 80 years.
In Emilia-Romagna in the four-year period 2019-2022 the prevalence of smokers among people aged 18-69 suffering from at least one chronic disease is 26%, equal to an estimate of 152,000 people; this prevalence drops to 10% if we consider people from Emilia-Romagna aged 70 and over. The prevalence of smokers among 18-69 year-olds affected by at least one pathology (26%) is comparable to that recorded among those who did not report any (25%). In particular, 33% of people with chronic respiratory disease and 27% of those with cerebrovascular disease or liver disease smoke.
In Emilia-Romagna in the two-year period 2021-2022, 42% of smokers said they had tried to quit smoking in the last 12 months, equal to a regional estimate of around 306,000 people; among these, most (84%) have resumed smoking, 10% have not smoked for less than six months (i.e. they are “abstention smokers”) and 6% have succeeded in the attempt since they stopped for more than 6 months.
* [dati, 2021-2022, a cura del “Sistema di sorveglianza PASSI”]
THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY. In Italy the situation is worrying. Almost one in four Italians (24.2% of the population) is a smoker. After years of stasis, in 2022, the number of smokers increased by 800 thousand compared to 2019. This increase is most likely associated with the pandemic emergency and the increase in worry and emotional instability. The damage to the body is manifold and mainly affects the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, increasing the incidence of multiple pathologies including stroke, heart attack, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.