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DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1716571
“Green July” 2020 and Another Good Reason to Quit Smoking: Help to Stop Spreading SARS-COV-2 and Save Lives!
Since 2014, July 27th has been dedicated to the World Head and Neck Cancer Day. This initiative aims to establish awareness programs for the population about the risk factors and the burden of the head and neck cancer to the society. The International Federation of Head and neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) coordinates thousands of volunteers in a world campaign against the disease, by means of educational activities aiming to increase awareness and improve understanding of head and neck cancer among physicians and the public.
In Brazil, the initiative has been a great success coordinated by the Brazilian Society of Head and Neck Surgery (BSHNS), and it was expanded to one entire month, named “Green July.” All around the country, besides press and television interviews and social media posts, members of the BSHNS and its accredited training centers run talks, shows and physical activities with the population to encourage healthy habits and to avoid exposure to the major risk factors associated with head and neck cancer.
This year, several obstacles were imposed to patients and head and neck surgeons. The emergence of SARS-Cov-2 and its fast spread to a pandemic in March 2020 has caused panic and a large number of patients are avoiding consultations and hospital referrals, resulting in many direct and indirect deaths. The only health-related subject present on the media is COVID-19, as if all other diseases had magically disappeared. It is not true, but the repeated message is clear, stay at home to be safe.
At the beginning of July 2020, The Johns Hopkins Resource Center accounted 544,871 global COVID-19 confirmed deaths. Unfortunately, Brazil ranked second in the list of the most affected, with 66,741 fatalities.[1] Again, the message is clear, COVID-19 can kill you. It ignores all other causes of death. In 6 months, at least 5 million people around the world died because of cancer. Ten times more.
SARS-Cov-2 infection in head neck cancer patients with active disease is a great threat due to cancer immunosuppression, but it is also a great risk to some survivors such as laryngectomized patients, who theoretically have a higher risk of severe infections due to inhaling aerosols more easily. In addition, the stress to the health system is impacting on disease progression and eventually in cancer-specific death rates.[2] Fortunately, for the time being, we are unaware of any Brazilian head and neck surgeons dying of SARS-Cov-2, even though the risk of severe infection to this medical specialty is quite real.[3]
* Brescia MDG and Montenegro FLM, both contruted equally in all stages of composition of these paper: proposition, elaboration, interpretation/discussion, writing and revision.
Publication History
Received: 16 July 2020
Accepted: 23 July 2020
Article published online:
20 October 2020
© .
Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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References
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