On Wednesday May 25th, the first day of the XXIII Smoke-Free Week, the XII Conference of the Catalan Society for the Care and Treatment of Tobacco Consumption was held at the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The Conference was in face-to-face format after two years, which provided a good meeting occasion for professionals committed to smoking prevention and treatment and, of course, the team from the Tobacco Control Unit was there and participated actively during the day.
Besides the contribution of Dr. Esteve Fernández to the round table on Tobacco and Covid, the UCT team presented two oral presentations, by Clara Mercader and Mercè Margalef, who won the first and second prize for the best oral presentations respectively. Clara Mercader spoke about the changes achieved in smoking control in mental health units in Catalonia over the last 10 years, showing the results of a study carried out by the Catalan Network of Smoke-Free Hospitals and the Tobacco and Mental Health Working Group. Mercè Margalef presented the implementation and evaluation of the “Allunyem el tabac” campaign at Duran i Reynals Hospital, also promoted by the Network.
The rest of the conference focused mainly about smoking in relation to the pandemic and all health professionals were especially thanked for their effort and dedication to make it possible to continue caring for their smoking patients during this challenging time.