Covid-19: Health Specialists Urge Smokers to Quit Immediately
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Health specialists yesterday urged smokers to leave their cigarettes behind, and tobacco companies to stop producing and selling their products, in order to help reduce the risks posed by the novel coronavirus, according to Reuters.
“The best thing the tobacco industry can do to fight Covid-19 is to immediately stop producing, marketing and selling tobacco,” said Gan Quan, a public health specialist and director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, in a statement.
The group, which includes international respiratory and lung experts and health agencies, said it is “deeply concerned” about the impact of Covid-19 on the world’s 1.3 billion smokers, particularly in the poorest countries, whose health systems are already stretched.
Smoking is known to undermine the immune system, making it less able to respond effectively to infections. Smokers may also suffer from lung disease or reduced lung capacity, which would greatly increase the risk of severe disease.
Quan said that governments worldwide have a “moral imperative” to advise smokers to quit. “This is the best time to quit smoking,” said Quan.
The statement quoted evidence emerging from preliminary studies of Covid-19 patients in China and elsewhere that suggests that smokers infected with the novel coronavirus become more severely ill and suffer more serious complications, such as breathing difficulties.
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