The PAN/Azores revealed this Friday that it presented a proposal in the Parliament of the Azores that aims to implement lung cancer screening, among the high-risk population, and increase taxes on tobacco.
In an informative note sent to the newsrooms, the party highlights that it is “an innovative proposal at the national level that aims to respond to the high mortality rate from lung cancer in high-risk individuals in the Azores.”
The party justifies the proposal with the high incidence of lung cancer in the Azores, which “is 97 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.”
This number represents double that registered in the other regions of Portugal and is closely related to the high consumption of tobacco in this Autonomous Region, according to data from the National Cancer Registry (RON)”, points out the PAN/Azores.
Citing official data, the party points out that, in the Region, in 2019, about 21% of the population aged 15 and over used tobacco on a daily basis, a habit with a higher prevalence among men, reaching 31%, and 12% among women. . .
“A smoker increases lung cancer 20 times compared to a non-smoker”, warns the PAN of the Azores.
The party emphasizes that the proposal is comprehensive in prevention and “enshrines an intervention through health literacy” and “dissuasive measures”specifically due to the increase in the tax on tobacco.
Quoted in the note, the sole deputy of the PAN in the Parliament of the Azores, Pedro Neves, says that lung cancer is “a real public health problem with a severe impact on the population of the Azores” and that it may have worsened during covid-19 pandemic. .
Source: Observadora
