A ‘WORLD No-Tobacco Day’ survey, released yesterday by the Health Ministry, showed that, while nearly one-quarter of the Cypriot population smokes, nicotine addiction is five-times more prevalent among Cypriot men than among Cypriot women.
The survey of 1,976 Cypriots, taken in November and December of 1997, aimed at learning how severely Cypriots 15 and older are addicted to tobacco, why they started smoking and why they continued.
The study found 75 per cent of Cypriot smokers picked up the habit before age 19; the younger they started, the heavier they smoked, and the harder it was to stop. Average starting age was 18.
It also found the smoking habits of a person’s immediate social environment — peers — were crucial in deciding whether a person became a smoker.
Cypriots responding to the poll said they continued to smoke mainly because they enjoyed it, or it gave them psychological support, relaxation or an outlet from stress.
According to the study, 23 per cent of Cypriots are smokers, down slightly from 24.2 per cent in 1989.
Only 7.6 per cent of Cypriot women smoke now, according to the survey, while 38.5 per cent of Cypriot males are smokers. The percentages for women were up from 7.2 per cent in 1989, while they were down from 42.5 per cent for men in the same year.
Of the respondents, 12.2 per cent said they were ex-smokers, while 62.2 per cent said they never smoked, and 2.1 per cent said they were casual rather than regular smokers.
Among ex-smokers, two-thirds said they quit to avoid harming their health, while 20 per cent said they quit because of a health problem caused by smoking.
World Health Organisation data, released around the WHO’s “World No-Tobacco Day” (officially May 31), indicate that one of every two long-term smokers “will ultimately be killed by tobacco.”
“The truth is,” warned the WHO, “that 4 million people die yearly from tobacco-related diseases – one death every eight seconds.” This means, if the trend is not altered, that “500 million people alive today will be killed by tobacco.”
If that trend continues, the WHO estimates the toll will rise to 10 million deaths per year by the year 2030 — or one death every three seconds – caused by smoking tobacco.
Not only is active tobacco use deadly, said the WHO, but so is so-called passive smoking: inhaling smoke exhaled by smokers. “Other people’s tobacco smoke… is harmful to non-smokers because it causes lung cancer and other diseases, and aggravates allergies and asthma,” the WHO said.
WHO figures indicate at least 33 per cent of the world’s adults smoke — a figure representing 1.1 billion people, nearly China’s total population of 1.2 billion people.
Despite the addictive properties of nicotine, and the harmful effects of tobacco (which contains nicotine), the WHO does not call for governments to ban tobacco or tobacco products.
Instead, it urges banning all tobacco adverts and all tobacco sales to children. It further urges health warnings on all tobacco products and the protection of non-smokers from passive smoking through smoke-free workplaces and public places.
