Tobacco and the coronavirus

A comparison of the data available until 1 May 2020 shows that during its first six months the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in much less human life lost than smoking – both globally and in Bulgaria. However, the reactions in society, state institutions and healthcare to the two threats are surprisingl...

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Main Authors: Pavel Antonov, Hristo Ivanov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Publishing 2020-10-01
Series:Tobacco Prevention and Cessation
Online Access:https://www.tobaccopreventioncessation.com/Tobacco-and-the-coronavirus,128091,0,2.html
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author Pavel Antonov
Hristo Ivanov
author_facet Pavel Antonov
Hristo Ivanov
author_sort Pavel Antonov
collection DOAJ
description A comparison of the data available until 1 May 2020 shows that during its first six months the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in much less human life lost than smoking – both globally and in Bulgaria. However, the reactions in society, state institutions and healthcare to the two threats are surprisingly disproportionate. The authors compare tobacco smoking to COVID-19 terminologically and in terms of mortality figures, policy responses, and enforcement. This happened in conditions of scarce scientific knowledge about COVID-19, and in conditions of lack of scientific consensus in various areas. We observe that, despite decades of evidence and international consensus on the deadly effects of smoking, the response is much more gradual, hesitant, of warning and advisory – both globally and on a national level in the case of Bulgaria.
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spelling doaj.art-86698e4d85e04ddf9d83db706212faa22024-01-31T10:31:16ZengEuropean PublishingTobacco Prevention and Cessation2459-30872020-10-016Supplement10.18332/tpc/128091128091Tobacco and the coronavirusPavel Antonov0Hristo Ivanov1BlueLink Foundation, Sofia, BulgariaSmoke-Free Life Coalition, Sofia, BulgariaA comparison of the data available until 1 May 2020 shows that during its first six months the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in much less human life lost than smoking – both globally and in Bulgaria. However, the reactions in society, state institutions and healthcare to the two threats are surprisingly disproportionate. The authors compare tobacco smoking to COVID-19 terminologically and in terms of mortality figures, policy responses, and enforcement. This happened in conditions of scarce scientific knowledge about COVID-19, and in conditions of lack of scientific consensus in various areas. We observe that, despite decades of evidence and international consensus on the deadly effects of smoking, the response is much more gradual, hesitant, of warning and advisory – both globally and on a national level in the case of Bulgaria.https://www.tobaccopreventioncessation.com/Tobacco-and-the-coronavirus,128091,0,2.html
spellingShingle Pavel Antonov
Hristo Ivanov
Tobacco and the coronavirus
Tobacco Prevention and Cessation
title Tobacco and the coronavirus
title_full Tobacco and the coronavirus
title_fullStr Tobacco and the coronavirus
title_full_unstemmed Tobacco and the coronavirus
title_short Tobacco and the coronavirus
title_sort tobacco and the coronavirus
url https://www.tobaccopreventioncessation.com/Tobacco-and-the-coronavirus,128091,0,2.html
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