2018 World No Tobacco Day Webinar: Heart disease and tobacco

[Watch webinar recording] [Download or listen to the podcast] The thematic focus of 2018 World No Tobacco Day is "Tobacco and heart disease." Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) kill more people than any other cause of death worldwide, and tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure contribute to approximately 12% of all heart disease deaths.

According to the WHO, tobacco use is the second leading cause of CVDs, after high blood pressure. But despite known harms of tobacco to heart health, and availability of solutions to reduce related disease and deaths, knowledge among large sections of the public that tobacco is one of the leading causes of CVDs is low.
Tobacco use is an important risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. The global tobacco epidemic kills more than 7 million people each year, of which close to 900,000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke. Nearly 80% of the more than 1 billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.
Heads of our governments will be meeting at the UN High Level Meeting on NCDs in September 2018. It is important to maximally use this opportunity in generating stronger action against CVDs (heart disease and stroke) as well as ensure effective implementation of the global tobacco treaty (the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) and domestic health laws.

If we are to deliver on promises governments made by committing themselves to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), then 'business as usual' is clearly not an option. Saving untimely deaths from preventable causes such as tobacco, is a compelling public health imperative.


Date: Tuesday, 22nd May 2018
Time: 1pm-2pm Geneva time

Panel of experts:
  • Prof Rishi Sethi, Department of Cardiology, King George's Medical University (KGMU); Chairman, STEMI Sub-Speciality Council, Cardiological Society of India; member of Scientific Committee of Asia Pacific Society of Interventional Cardiology; Executive Editor of Journal Heart India; Assistant Editor of Indian Heart Journal; and Secretary of UP Chapter of Cardiological Society of India
  • Prof Rama Kant, WHO Director General's WNTD Awardee 2005; tobacco cessation expert and noted surgeon; former President of Association of Surgeons of India; former Vice President SAARC Surgeons; former Chief Medical Superintendent, KGMU and founder leader of Indian Society Against Smoking
Moderators:
  • Ashok Ramsarup, former Senior Producer, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Durban, South Africa
  • Shobha Shukla, Managing Editor, CNS (Citizen News Service)


Dedication to Yul Francisco Dorado
[Watch 2:11 - 8:15 of webinar recording where Patti Lynn, Executive Director, Corporate Accountability, dedicates this webinar in fond memory of Yul]

This World No Tobacco Day 2018 webinar is dedicated to the memory of our mentor, colleague, friend and inspiration: Yul Francisco Dorado, a fearless tobacco control and human rights leader from Bogota, Colombia, whose timeless legacy continues to guide us in our work. Yul was the Latin America Director of the Corporate Accountability and part of Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) leadership.


Thanks

CNS eLearning Programme Team
Email: webinar@citizen-news.org

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