No abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the extent to which three subgroups – people with mental health conditions, people belonging to sexual minority and gender groups and Indigenous peoples – have been “left behind” by countries implementing the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Design/methodology/approach A general review of electronic bibliographical databases to provide an overview of smoking prevalence among the three groups and interventions designed specifically to reduce their smoking rates. Findings Although explanations and specific rates differ, two trends are consistent across all three groups. First, information reported in the past two decades suggests that smoking prevalence is disproportionately high among people with mental health conditions, and in the rainbow and indigenous communities. Second, most cessation programmes are targeted at majority politically dominant groups, missing opportunities to reduce smoking rates in these minority communities. Research limitations/implications There is a general dearth of data preventing detailed analysis. Better data collection efforts are required. Trials to identify effective smoking reduction interventions for marginalised groups are needed. Social implications It is socially unjust that these groups are being systematically ignored by tobacco control initiatives. A failure to equitably reduce tobacco harms among all groups across society has contributed to the perceived concentration of smoking in some subgroups. The increasing stigmatisation of people who smoke then adds a marginality, compounding the negative effects associated with belonging to a marginalised group. Ongoing marginalisation of these groups is an important determinant of smoking. Originality/value Cross-case analysis of neglected subgroups with disproportionately high smoking rates suggests social marginalisation is a shared and important determinant of smoking prevalence.

Cigarette smoking is one of the main preventable causes of cancers globally. At this time of global emergency, mental health professionals all over the world are joining hands with the public health and other healthcare communities to focus on acute measures to save lives from COVID-19. This has been particularly challenging in mental health hospital settings where numerous additional factors need to be considered, including difficulties of implementing social distancing, potential impacts of social isolation, increased stress levels and implications of all this on smoking. In this article, we will briefly discuss the prevalence of smoking in mental health patients, especially in those in mental health hospital settings and also what is the possible impact of COVID-19 pandemic in these people. Then we will go through the main reasons as to why encouraging smoking cessation in mental health patients is so important and measures we can take for supporting mental health patients quit smoking even during COVID-19 times. The smoking cessation interventions have a direct bearing on preventing future cancers and achieving smoking cessation among cancer patients in this already disadvantaged group.