What is the theme of World No Tobacco Day 2022?

WHO announced that the theme of World No Tobacco Day 2022 is "Tobacco: a threat to the environment".

WHO will use propaganda to expose the ugly side of the industry's reputation and products. The tobacco industry emits greenhouse gases equivalent to 84 megatons of carbon dioxide each year, contributing to climate change, reducing climate resilience, wasting resources and damaging ecosystems.

Dr. Ruediger Krech, Department of Health Promotion, said: “The environmental impact of smoking adds unnecessary pressure to the Earth’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems. This is particularly dangerous in developing countries, where most tobacco production occurs. "Every time you smoke a cigarette, you are actually burning an already scarce resource on which our survival depends."

About 3.5 million hectares of land around the world are destroyed every year due to tobacco cultivation. Tobacco cultivation contributes to deforestation. Deforestation to grow tobacco causes soil degradation and reduced yields, and the land's ability to grow any other crops or vegetation will be severely affected.

The campaign calls on governments and policymakers to strengthen legislation, including implementing and strengthening existing schemes to hold producers accountable for the environmental and economic costs of tobacco product waste.

? World No Tobacco Day is set on May 31st every year, because the next day is International Children’s Day, with the intention of protecting the next generation from the harm of tobacco. Smoking is one of the biggest public health problems in the world today and one of the most important preventable factors for premature death. Smoking and second-hand smoke seriously endanger human health. The World Health Organization stipulates that on May 31, no one smokes or sells cigarettes anywhere in the world, and requires countries to widely publicize the significance of quitting smoking.

The harms of smoking:

1. Smoking will damage the structure of the respiratory tract

The respiratory epithelium is the first natural barrier for the human body to resist the invasion of foreign germs, and tobacco The harmful substances in the respiratory tract can directly damage the respiratory epithelium, affect the ability of cilia, destroy intercellular connections, lead to excessive secretion of mucus and obstacles in ciliary clearance, which is conducive to the colonization and reproduction of pathogens.

2. Smoking damages innate and acquired immunity.

3. Smoking helps increase the number of virus receptors.

Compared with never smokers, healthy people with a history of smoking have higher expression of ACE2 on the airway epithelium: ACE2 expression is highest in people who are currently smoking, and ACE2 expression is highest in never smokers. The lowest; this shows that smokers are more likely to be bound by the virus and enter the body.

4. Smoking increases the chance of virus transmission

Smokers increase the time of hand-to-mouth contact, which may increase the chance of virus transmission.

Starting today, say no to tobacco! Keep yourself and your family healthy!

May every day be a "smoking-free day" for minors.