MONTEVIDEO, March 20 – More than half a million Uruguayans, 23 percent of the population still smoke, said the Ministry of Public Health, which launched this week a new anti-smoking campaign. Under the slogan “At what stage of the disease are you?” the new Health Minister Susana Muniz led a day of awareness about the dangers of smoking.
After recalling that Uruguay has worked for years on the issue, she said that another slogan of the campaign calls for: Uruguayans Smoke one cigarette less a day. The head of Tobacco Control Programme, Winston Abascal, said there are plans nationwide providing help to stop consuming and stressed that it is an addictive disease.
Although he assured that the trend of consumption is declining in every age, the fall is less in the lower educational levels. In young people (12 to 17), the number of smokers was reduced from 30 to 13 percent in 10 years. He said that women continue to smoke less than men, although the number of people who stopped using tobacco declined less among them.
According to projections if the trend of consumption in the female sector continues, in 15 or 20 years lung cancer will be more common than breast cancer.
BERNAMA
