Most smokers will reject arguments that point to dangers for their lives, but few will remain indifferent to the fact that smoking cigarettes increases the chances of their children contracting a deadly disease. Medical doctor and specialist in oncology and blood diseases, Gordan Srkalović, believes that this is a message that should be strongly transmitted and spread. He is a clinical professor of internal medicine at Michigan State University (MSU), and on the example of the United States of America (USA), he explains how a significant reduction in smoking was achieved through a combination of education and political action that resulted in changes to the law. - In the US, smoking is prohibited in public places, including hospitals, schools, government institutions, and restaurants. In addition, the price of cigarettes is so high that many smokers cannot buy cigarettes, which forces them to quit. Information about the harmful effects of smoking is available on all electronic media; advertising of cigarettes is prohibited, emphasized Srkalović in an interview with Fena. He also states that in the USA, it has been proven that smoking bans in restaurants and bars are not only economically bad for the owners, but visits to those establishments have increased and profits have become higher. - It should be used as a lesson for those who oppose the ban. I hope that soon in Bosnia and Herzegovina, universities, schools, and other educational institutions, as well as hospitals, will ban smoking on their premises. It would be an excellent start to a useful and necessary campaign. I invite the representatives of those institutions to show the way to others how to improve the health of Bosnia and Herzegovina. population. In BiH, smoking bans should be started in educational institutions and hospitals and extended to all public places, he emphasized. Professor Dr. Srkalović warns that smoking cigarettes (in 85 to 90 percent of cases) is a direct cause of lung cancer, and the best way to prevent this disease is to reduce and eventually stop using tobacco products completely. It is certainly achievable, but only with the participation of various groups of society and the support of the political factor. Politicians must understand how much this would improve the entire BiH. society made it more competitive on the world market of work and achievements and contributed to people's health and saving money. This can be achieved through education and personal example, he believes. He adds that there are also environmental factors that can contribute to the development of lung cancer, but the main cause is still cigarette smoking. It reminds us that cancer is a disease that can be prevented in some cases (for example, by eradicating smoking), in a large number of cases it can be cured (if it is diagnosed in the early stages), and in a certain number of cases, it can be cured or treated even when it is advanced (lymphomas, testicular cancer, breast cancer, melanoma). He warns that cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in the world, but he also emphasizes that in developed countries (as opposed to underdeveloped and developing countries), the rate of dying from this vicious disease is declining. In the developed world, patients with this type of disease are living longer and longer. This, says Srkalović, is the result of the use of new technologies, new drugs, and improved methods of controlling disease symptoms. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, oncologist Prof. Dr. Srkalović says that they are well educated, have excellent connections with the world, and use the latest knowledge and methods of diagnosis and treatment, but many techniques and medicines are not available to them. - Modern oncology is expensive; even in the most developed countries, not all treatments are available to all patients. This is the case to a much greater extent in a country like BiH; many techniques and medicines are not available to our doctors. Regardless, I witness their efforts and efforts to make things better. What can be improved is the establishment of uniform criteria for the registration, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer at the state level. For that, the help of the state administration is needed," he emphasized. Professor Dr. Srkalović also notes that the departure of doctors from BiH is a big problem, which will grow over the years if nothing is done to improve living and working conditions. - "Brain drain" is a big problem for all developing countries because the most important potential of each country (humans) is exhausted. In the case of doctors, it is even more dangerous because top staff in which society has invested a lot is being lost. On the other hand, we live in a world of open borders and a free market of all values, including intellectual ones. Almost all people are looking for better life and work opportunities for themselves and their families. And that is a fact that must be accepted," he said. Prof. Dr. Srkalović can be improved only by creating equally good or at least similar conditions of work, economic development, intellectual advancement, entertainment, and physical and material security that exist in the countries to which Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently moving. population. - This is certainly difficult to achieve in the current BiH, due to administrative and political obstacles to an open and free society. Nevertheless, BiH has some important positive features. It is a beautiful country that increasingly attracts the top intellectuals of Bosnia and Herzegovina. and of foreign origin. There will be more if the economic and political situation improves. On the other hand, doctors who go to other countries acquire new knowledge and master techniques that they will be able to transfer to BiH colleagues and thus help them improve, he emphasized. Professor Dr. Srkalović points out that this is exactly one of the main goals of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian-American Academy of Sciences and Arts (BHAAAS), which has been a bridge of knowledge transfer between Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than a decade. scientific and professional diaspora and colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina. - In the beginning, cooperation was limited, but in recent years it has been developing on various levels. The Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons of BiH, ANU BiH, and the University of Sarajevo are very supportive. This cooperation will be of great benefit to both Bosnia and Herzegovina. experts abroad believe Prof. Dr. Srkalović. He says that his home and family are now in the USA, but that he will always return to his homeland (Sarajevo, Tuzla, and other dear places). The other members of his family think similarly, he says. I have three daughters and four grandchildren. All of them know and feel BiH as one of their homelands; maybe one of them will decide to return," said Prof. Dr. Srkalović for Fena. Gordan Srkalović was born in Sarajevo. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo and received his doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine in Tuzla. He started his professional career at the Institute of Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine in Tuzla. He is the Director of Clinical Research at the Sparrow Regional Oncology Center in Michigan, and since 2004 he has been a clinical associate professor of internal medicine at Michigan State University in the USA. He has published many publications in international journals and congresses. He proudly points out his origins, his father Ibrahim from a merchant family from Tešnj and his mother Blanka, born into a Jewish family called Papo, whom he says gave him a love of letters and numbers and a vague memory of Ladino (the language of the Sephardic Jews). (Vijesti.ba / FENA)
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