After the success of the past editions, Walce (Women against lung cancer in Europe) Aps relaunches the traveling campaign ‘Esci dal tunnel. Non bruciarti il futuro’ for the two-year period 2024-25. The association, always at the forefront in the fight against lung cancer, chooses Padua as the starting point for this new phase of the initiative dedicated to prevention and information on the risks associated with smoking and to raising awareness and knowledge of lung cancer, aimed at citizens, healthcare workers, media and institutions, carried out with the unconditional support of AstraZeneca. The choice to start again from Padua is not a coincidence: the occasion is the Open day that on the same days involves the departments of the University Hospital Company and the Iov, the Veneto Oncology Institute. The aim is to strengthen the synergy between healthcare facilities and clinicians engaged on various fronts in the prevention of smoking and lung cancer.
Tomorrow and Sunday 22 September, the central Piazzetta Sartori – as stated in a note – will host an imposing cigarette-shaped stand, 14 metres long and 3 metres high: a real tunnel structured inside according to a multimedia path of knowledge in steps on the damage caused by cigarette smoking and lung cancer, with free admission from 10 am to 6 pm. Visitors, welcomed by oncologists and pulmonologists, in addition to learning from the installation’s panels, will be able to ask the specialists questions on the damage caused by tobacco and on the paths to weaning, on the risk factors linked to lung cancer. They will also be able to undergo a spirometric test and consult informative material created by Walce Aps. Prevention and early diagnosis of lung cancer are also the objectives of the pilot program active for 2 years coordinated by Risp-Rete italiana screening pollici, aimed at all citizens between 55 and 75 years of age, heavy smokers or former heavy smokers who can access the low-dose spiral CT scan offered free of charge in 18 Italian centers.
“We talk a lot about personalized medicine, but prevention should also follow the same process of capillarization, that is, reach everyone, because that is the only way we can be effective – says Silvia Novello, president of Walce Aps – In this perspective, through this campaign, since 2015 we have spread messages and advice on primary prevention in numerous cities, sometimes even returning to where we had already been. The large number of people who visited the tunnel, a third of whom were young, the feedback obtained in the media and on social channels, the experiences and responses we were able to give are an important result achieved, a stage in a complex path such as that of providing education in the health and prevention fields”.
Tobacco smoking – the note recalls – is the leading cause of death in Europe, with 750 thousand lives lost every year. In Italy, one in four people smokes (24%), a percentage that increases among young people (30.2%) who use traditional cigarettes, heated tobacco or electronic cigarettes. About 1 in 3 students between the ages of 14 and 17 have used a tobacco or nicotine-based product in the last year. Slightly higher consumption is found among girls. The number of anti-smoking centers in the country is decreasing, despite the fact that in our country over 93 thousand deaths per year are attributable to tobacco smoking, with direct and indirect costs that exceed 26 billion euros.
Since its launch in 2015, the campaign ‘Get out of the tunnel. Don’t burn your future’ has reached 11 major Italian cities and 2 major European capitals, welcoming over 16,000 visitors and performing almost 4,000 spirometry tests. The anonymous data on visitors show a cross-section of interest: 32.4% are smokers, 30.3% are ex-smokers and 36.8% are non-smokers, with a slight male prevalence (57%). The most frequently asked questions concerned methods for quitting smoking, the risks of passive smoking and the time needed to reduce the risk of cancer after quitting. These questions demonstrate how current and sensitive the topic is, even among those who have never used tobacco.
“The Open day ‘Via Salutis’ initiative, coordinated by the two Departments Dsctv and Discog of the University of Padua, is part of a broader project of the University of Padua, focused on the prevention of the main neoplastic diseases and other chronic diseases resulting from an incorrect lifestyle – says Federico Rea, director of the Thoracic Surgery division and Lung Transplant Center of the University Hospital of Padua – The event, in synergy and with the patronage of Walce Aps., will address various issues regarding the general well-being of the population and will offer an overview of the most innovative therapeutic strategies for neoplastic diseases. In particular, lung cancer, which has always been considered a ‘big killer’, is now at the center of a therapeutic revolution for the numerous innovative drugs that offer notable results in combination with surgery. At the same time, it is necessary to promote a strong action to stop smoking and therefore we believe that coinciding with the first stage in Padua of the VII edition of the campaign ‘Esci dal tunnel. Don’t burn your future’ with the Open day represents a perfect synergy of intents”. The campaign, between September 2024 and May 2025, after the initial stage in Padua will reach 6 other cities: Milan (Mind), Pisa, Pescara, Messina, Taranto and Catanzaro.
