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Vol.49 No.1 contents | Japanese/English |
 | Full Text of PDF (1671K) Article in Japanese |
- The 23rd Lung Cancer Mass Screening Seminar -
Present State of Tobacco Control in Japan from an International Viewpoint
Masako Shigeta11Department of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan
I would like to urge the members of the Japan Lung Cancer Society to recognize the importance of tobacco control and to participate actively in it. Tobacco is the greatest cause of lung cancers, many of which are incurable and have a high mortality rate. As physicians, the task that most of our energy should be focused on, is tobacco control. The reason is specified in "The role of health professionals in tobacco control", the statement of the WHO for World No Tobacco Day in 2005; 1. Encourage their members to be role models by not using tobacco and by promoting a tobacco-free culture. 2. Assess and address the tobacco consumption patterns and tobacco-control attitudes of their members. 3. Make their own organizations' premises and events tobacco-free and encourage their members to do the same. 4. Include tobacco control in the agenda of all conferences. 5. Advise their members to routinely ask patients about tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke. 6. Influence health institutions and educational centres to include tobacco control in their health professionals' curricula. 7. Actively participate in World No Tobacco Day every 31 May. 8. Refrain from accepting any kind of tobacco industry support. 9. Ensure that your organization has a stated policy on any commercial or other kind of relationship with partners who interact with or have interests in the tobacco industry. 10. Prohibit the sale or promotion of tobacco products on your premises. 11. Actively support governments in the process leading to implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. 12. Dedicate financial and/or other resources to tobacco control. 13. Participate in the tobacco-control activities. 14. Support campaigns for tobacco-free public places. Under the present circumstances, it is difficult to do everything stated above, as we are busy with our everyday practices, however, physicians who treat lung cancer should always follow this spirit.
key words: Lung cancer, Tobacco, Smoking, WHO (World Health Organization), Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
JJLC 49 (1): 113-121, 2009
