Bearing in mind that a large proportion of nurses are smokers, they themselves are an important target group. Preparing nurses to be ready for emergencies and crisis situations. Enhancing team building and leadership abilities of nurses as health care providers and planners. Demonstrating cost-effective care through primary health care and the critical role of nurses in the health care team. Promoting health-enhancing changes in lifestyle will be crucial.
Nurses have many opportunities to play a leadership role in combating the tobacco epidemic.
Nurses throughout the world have access to the population at all levels of the health care system, and enjoy a high degree of public trust. Indeed, there are several examples of nurses successfully initiating and implementing tobacco prevention and treatment programmes with specific target populations, such as school children, pregnant women, and people recovering from cardiac diseases and cancer. It did so last month during the World Health Assembly. I hope the National Nurses Associations present at this meeting will put into action ICN recommendations. The Framework Convention for Tobacco Control provides nurses groups with an excellent opportunity to become active participants in the international tobacco control movement, and to make a significant difference in curbing the tobacco epidemic.