The campaign Quit smoking with Barça wins the prestigious European Lung Foundation Award

Dr. Jordi Monés, director of the Institut de la Màcula and Head of FC Barcelona’s medical services, is the driving force behind the club’s participation in the initiative. The joint campaign of the European Commission (EC) and FC Barcelona obtained one of the top awards in the field of health when it received last Saturday the ELF Award 2013 for encouraging people to give up smoking in Europe. At the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society, which was held this weekend in Barcelona, the European Lung Foundation (ELF) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) presented the award to the campaign ‘Quit smoking with Barça’ (www.quitsmokingwithbarca.eu), which now boasts over 70,000 personas who have registered throughout Europe in order to give up.

Dr. Jordi Monés, the driving force behind the football club’s participation in the campaign, attended the awards ceremony. He said "it is a real pleasure to have collaborated with the European Commission on such a major problem for public health. We are proud to have received this award together with the EC here in the city of Barcelona. This is proof that, happily, our message has hit home and that our combined efforts are bearing fruit".

For the Director of the Institut de la Màcula and of the Barcelona Macula Foundation, “this award highlights the excellent work which is performed in Barcelona in the field of health, both in scientific research and in social health awareness.” In Dr. Monés’s words, “initiatives like ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ reinforce the excellent work for some years of scientific centres and bodies such as the Barcelona Macula Foundation, which help to place our city at the forefront of international science”.

The ELF Awards were presented last Saturday at the opening ceremony of the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society, an event which has gathered around 20,000 health professionals to discuss the latest advances in respiratory medicine.

‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ is the first initiative of this type undertaken between a great public institution and one of the world’s top sports clubs. The campaign has won praise from the international and medical community throughout Europe for promoting the benefits of giving up smoking for good.

The decision to honour the campaign with this prize was unanimous. According to Monica Fletcher, the President of the European Respiratory Society: "What has most impressed us about this Project is its sole focus on reaching those who have been unsuccessful in giving up or who have not even attempted to do so. The campaign has helped those people to give up for good, with a particular emphasis on our common search to stress the importance of good pulmonary health."

"What has been most important for the European Commission and FC Barcelona when working together was the joint commitment to protect people’s health", explained Paola Testori Coggi, the European Commission’s Director General for Health and Consumers: "I am glad that the positive impact obtained through this partnership has been recognised by the health community in general. 70,000 Europeans have registered for ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’. We hope to continue to inspire people to reap the benefits of a life which is free of smoking".

Tobacco is the leading cause of avoidable death in the European Union (EU), being responsible for almost 700,000 deaths annually. One of every four deaths caused by cancer in the EU comes from smoking which, in turn, is responsible for 85% of the deaths through lung cancer throughout the EU.

‘Quit smoking with Barça’ was launched in December 2012 following the EC’s successful campaign ‘Ex-smokers are unstoppable’ (http://www.exsmokers.eu). By benefiting from the support of millions of FC Barcelona fans, this unprecedented partnership is aimed at helping well over 140 million smokers in Europe to give up the habit for good.

FOTO: V. SALGADO - ARXIU FCB