World No Tobacco Day

As part of its Tobacco Free Initiative, each year the World Health Organization (WHO) promotes World No Tobacco Day. Tobacco industry interference is the theme of this year’s event, which takes place on 31 May 2012.

The WHO Tobacco Free Initiative is committed to raising awareness of the threat posed by the global tobacco epidemic and of the steps that can be taken to reduce tobacco use and save lives. Tobacco is the second major cause of deaths in the world, currently responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide. Cochrane Reviews of interventions for tobacco addiction are essential for establishing evidence (or the lack of it) for different tobacco addiction treatment or prevention techniques.

A freely available Special Collection of The Cochrane Library has been updated for World No Tobacco Day 2012, comprising Cochrane Reviews on topics including interventions for smoking cessation delivered in the hospital setting, training health professionals in smoking cessation, and nicotine receptor partial agonists (such as varenicline). The latest edition of Cochrane Journal Club also discusses nicotine receptor partial agonists for smoking cessation, including a podcast, PowerPoint slides, patient vignette and discussion questions.

The full list of Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group reviews can be browsed here.