World Heart Federation Calls On Cardiologists To Lead Fight Against Tobacco Use

June 17, 2010 - PRLog -- BEIJING, 17 JUNE 2010.  At the World Congress of Cardiology (WCC) in Beijing, China, the World Heart Federation strongly urged cardiologists to ensure that patients and policymakers understand the devastating impact of tobacco on heart health, and called upon cardiologists to take action to reduce tobacco use and exposure.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading global cause of death, accounting for 29 per cent of deaths worldwide.  And, tobacco use is a major cause of cardiovascular disease.

“Tobacco is among the world’s most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease and while many people know that tobacco use causes lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, fewer people know that it causes cardiovascular disease,” said Sidney C. Smith, Jr. M.D, President Elect, World Heart Federation.  “Getting people with heart disease to stop smoking and avoid exposure to secondhand smoke improves outcomes as much or more than any single medical treatment that we can offer. We are strongly urging cardiologists to take action to reduce their patients’ and communities’ use of tobacco and to help them avoid the danger of exposure to secondhand smoke.”

Specifically, the World Heart Federation calls upon cardiologists and other health care professionals to:
•   Stop smoking themselves and encourage their colleagues to do the same
•   Approach tobacco dependence as a chronic disease, not a lifestyle choice
•   Treat tobacco dependence as a chronic disease, and ensure that tobacco use is treated as aggressively as other cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes
•   Ensure that treatment for tobacco dependence is widely available
•   Support 100 per cent smoke-free environments in all public places, especially the hospitals, medical facilities and universities where they work

These and other points of action were articulated in the statement, Warning: Secondhand Smoke is Hazardous to Your Heart, which was launched at the WCC along with a film of the same name. The statement and film were developed by the Global Smokefree Partnership in a project involving the Roswell Park Cancer Centre, the United States Centres for Disease Control, the World Heart Federation and the World Lung Foundation, and made possible by funding from the Flight Attendant’s Medical Research Institute.  Judith Mackay of the World Lung Foundation, long-time champion of tobacco control, underlined the importance of physicians providing role models for smoke-free lives.

Highlighting the power of comprehensive tobacco control policy to improve global health, Haik Nikogosian, Head of the Secretariat of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first international public health treaty, commented “The Framework Convention is a unique, novel legal instrument that offers a new dimension to international health cooperation.  Now is the time to use it fully to reduce the toll of heart disease and the many other severe health consequences of tobacco use.”

About the World Congress of Cardiology
The World Congress of Cardiology Scientific Sessions is the official congress of the World Heart Federation and is held every two years. Through the Congress the World Heart Federation offers an international stage for the latest developments in science and public outreach in the field of cardiovascular health. The World Congress of Cardiology places emphasis on the complementary nature of science and public outreach and strives to spread the message that through individual, community and patient-care interventions, the growing epidemic of cardiovascular diseases can be prevented.  www.worldcardiocongress.org

About the World Heart Federation
The World Heart Federation is dedicated to leading the global fight against heart disease and stroke with a focus on low- and middle-income countries via a united community of more than 200 member organizations. With its members, the World Heart Federation works to build global commitment to addressing cardiovascular health at the policy level, generates and exchanges ideas, shares best practice, advances scientific knowledge and promotes knowledge transfer to tackle cardiovascular disease – the world’s number one killer. It is a growing membership organization that brings together the strength of medical societies and heart foundations from more than 100 countries.  Through our collective efforts we can help people all over the world to lead longer and better heart-healthy lives.  For more information, please visit www.worldheart.org

About the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization.  It was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005. I t has since become one of the most widely embraced treaties in UN history and, as of today, has already 168 Parties.  http://www.who.int/fctc/about/en/

About the Global Smokefree Partnership
The Global Smokefree Partnership is a multi-partner initiative formed to promote effective smokefree air policies worldwide.  The Partnership works by helping practitioners and advocates of smokefree policies to: access the evidence for smokefree policies; request assistance from a network of experts and take action in support of smokefree policies.  The Partnership is coordinated by the American Cancer Society and the Framework Convention Alliance.