Christos Tsagkaris: From tobacco control to precision medicine and citizenship
Christos Tsagkaris, Social Media Editor at
“Last but not least: From tobacco control to precision medicine and citizenship
Recollecting our ECTOH2023 Youth Committee’s memories at the IPO Porto Summit – most importantly discussing how YOUTH can be engaged in Public Health and cancer prevention and why young people deserve a seat at the table as people with lived experience in Tobacco and substance normalisation and use.
The presentation was followed by vivid discussion and preceded by talks about municipalities and local communities’ activities for cancer prevention by Sílvia Cunha of the Câmara Municipal do Porto as well as HPV and cervical cancer screening by Hugo Sousa of the Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto (IPO-Porto)
Lucia Gonçalves‘s and Prof. Fernando Oliveira Tavares‘s comments’ brought up the need to maintain a multilateral and multilayer measures for tobacco control crafting an analogy to the swiss cheese model, where bans restricting access to cigarettes, vapes and other devices are complemented by taxation, education and health literacy among others.
An additional highlight of the day was a dedicated session on precision medicine and citizenship – a solid reminder of the need to align the course of biomedical innovation with equitable access, prevention and a healthy and long life for the population, rather than individual longevity quests. Profs. Manuel Bicho, Rui Medeiros and António Carvalho incorporated this vision in an overview of the advancement of pharmacogenomics during the last 2 decades under the moderation of Ana Luísa Teixeira and Prof. Jorge Gonçalves.
These, together with captivating discussions and memorable moments with peers and senior colleagues, briefly summarise the last few days. The IPO Porto Summit has certainly been a probe for more action within the frame of the Madrid Declaration and the Youth Movement for a tobacco – free generation in Europe (Association of European Cancer Leagues ), but also a more proactive approach in maintaining the bridges between R&D and public and preventive health efforts (Zeina Moukarzel MD, MHM, MPH, Muriel Dib).”
Source: Christos Tsagkaris/LinkedIn