Periodico 26

He does not remember exactly the first time he took a cigar to his mouth. At that time, it was just an entertainment for boys behind the adults' back. "I started with one or two," he recalls, "and little by little I felt the need to smoke much more, sometimes a daily packet did not satisfy my desires, but I stopped for economic reasons. I tried to quit, but in the end I went back on smoking. I forced my family to share the smoke and my two girls spent days hospitalized with complicated colds.
Roberto, a man who is over 50 years old, has suffered the effects of this addiction, and not only on his pockets.
"Now I am aware of all this and I regret it. I was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and it hurts to know that I caused this situation myself".

AN ADDICTION THAT KILLS

In addition to representing a risk for the appearance of different types of tumors, tobacco causes respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, premature aging and many others.
"There is no part of our body that is free from the damage caused by smoking. It is the main cause of illness and preventable mortality on the planet," explains Kenia Rodríguez Maestre, Provincial Coordinator of the Program for the Prevention and Control of Smoking. "
The so-called passive smokers also receive the harmful effects. "Research has proved that the components of the smoke remain in clothes, furniture, tables, and carpets for a long period, damaging mainly the child population."
According to the specialist, the age of consumption onset is getting earlier. "Before age 14 marked the beginning, today it has been reduced to 13 and up to 12 years
Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco smoke contains more than four thousand components, among them the nicotine that is the cause of the strong physiological dependence. It is also associated with other addictive consequences related to the behavior of the individual and with factors of a social nature.
"Of every 10 young people who try the cigarette, at least seven are" hooked "by the high addictive power of nicotine. After a while the person needs to increase consumption to achieve the desired effects, and that is what we call tolerance to this drug."
Although there are laws, resolutions and circulars that include the different social sectors to control tobacco addiction, they are not always fulfilled. It is no secret that many people ignore warnings of "No Smoking" in public places, especially in health and educational institutions.
The anonymous, confidential, anti-drug line 103 provides the entire country with an orientation service. "We have the consultations of smoking cessation in all health areas of the province, offered by a multidisciplinary medical team.
The staff of the provincial department of Education and Promotion for Health develops activities in communities, schools and other spaces to carry the message of prevention.

THE LAST CIGARETTE

After approaching one of these consultations and with family help, Roberto managed to quit smoking. "I think it depends a lot on the will," he says, "although other factors are also involved, you have to really want it, I had tried before, but I was not really convinced, since I had to do it to save my life.
"I recommend young people not to try it because all the smokers begin with the first; none knows when the last one will be."
Roberto is not an isolated case. In Las Tunas, as in many parts of the world, smoking represents a health problem. According to statistics, out of every 100 people who suffer from lung cancer, more than 95 percent are smokers.

Havana, Cuba.- Various actions are taken by Cuba in the fight against smoking, taking into account that its prevalence is 24 percent, which places the country in third place with the highest rate of addiction in Latin America.