Be responsible – Quit tobacco now!

Public health specialists sound alarm as a massive use of electronic cigarettes among teenagers and young people has been witnessed recently. It is proven that nicotine in electronic cigarettes is a highly addictive component and can seriously affect the brain and normal development of children. E-cigarettes also increase the risk of heart and lung diseases. 

Be responsible - quit tobacco now! this is the theme of this year's National Quit Tobacco Day, marked annually on the third Thursday of November, at the initiative of the National Coordinating Council in the field of Tobacco Control. The purpose of the action is to increase the population's awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco consumption, but also to discourage its use in any form.

The only way to avoid the consequences of using tobacco and related products is to quit smoking, which will benefit everyone at any age as the body begins to recover. So, if you give up smoking:

• Within 20 minutes, the heart rate and blood pressure decrease; 
• Within 12 hours, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood drops to normal;
• In 2-12 weeks, blood circulation improves and lung function increases;

Over the course of 1-9 months, the cough subsides and breathing normalizes;

•  After 1 year, the risk of coronary heart disease drops by 50%;
•  After 5 years, the risk of stroke is reduced;
•  After 10 years, the risk of lung cancer is halved, compared to that of a smoker;
• After 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is equal to that of a non-smoker.

According to the Global Study on Adolescent Smoking (GYTS), carried out in 2019 and made public by the National Agency for Public Health, the prevalence of tobacco consumption among students of the Republic of Moldova aged 13-15 is on the rise and constitutes 16.3%, including those who use smoke-free IQOS heated tobacco products - 3.9% and electronic cigarettes -  12.7. About 4 out of 10 students (43.2%) interact with other people who smoke in public places and over a quarter (28.3%) are exposed to tobacco smoke at home.

For more information on how to successfully quit smoking, visit the platform: www.prosanatate.md

0 800 10001 is the telephone number for the Green Line of the Republican Narcological Dispensary, to gain access to counselling services.