Currently an estimated 7,800 Ontarians are diagnosed with lung cancer and approximately 6,000 die of the disease each year. Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke continue to be the main risk factors for developing lung cancer - and that is why we must continue to encourage Ontarians to be smoke-free.
"Despite being the most preventable cancer, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Canadian men and women," said Terrence Sullivan, President and CEO, Cancer Care Ontario. "National Non-Smoking Week provides an opportunity to remind Ontarians how they can protect themselves by not smoking and avoiding exposure to second-hand smoke."
Second-hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals - 50 of which are known carcinogens. There is international scientific consensus that tobacco industry products and exposure to second-hand smoke results in many fatal diseases including heart disease, lung cancer and death.
The province has made great strides in the fight against lung cancer through prevention efforts including the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, as demonstrated by the decline in smoking rates and lung cancer incidence among males in recent years. Since 2001, smoking rates have declined in Ontario, particularly among teenagers.
Smoking prevention has also been boosted by efforts that encourage Ontarians to make behavioural changes to improve their health. Second-hand smoke and tobacco control advertising legislation has been effective - but there is more work to be done, especially among groups that continue to have high levels of smoking rates.