Doctors against tobacco

The Doctors Against Tobacco (DAT) the network of Finnish physicians and dentists was founded in January 1995. It has some 300 members and constitutes an influential lobby to promote smoking prevention among patients and the wider public, as well as among members of the medical profession.

DAT also promotes expertise and authoritative awareness among various health organisations and institutions concerning the effects of smoking, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and people’s rights to smokefree environments.

The network’s members have written extensively on the hazards of tobacco and have strongly backed Finnish tobacco control legislation. It holds regular meetings and training events, and plays an important part in overall health promotion work in Finland. It has furthered the notion of doctors and medical workers as role models in non-smoking behaviour, and its efforts are partly responsible for the very low smoking rates among doctors (3% of women, 7% of men).

As with other smoking prevention initiatives, DAT aims to cut smoking levels in Finland. It also aims to increase knowledge within the medical profession and among health workers of proactive work with patients to encourage quitting smoking and related health awareness. In doing so it has helped further understanding of the use of nicotine replacement therapy and need for it to be readily available.

DAT stresses the importance of protecting children from starting to use tobacco and it has lobbied against the conspicuous display and marketing of tobacco products in shops.

More on smoking in Finland: www.suomenash.fi

Contacts

Secretary