One million French smokers have quit in the past year

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 30 2018

According to a new announcement made by the Health Ministry of France, 1 million fewer smokers were seen in 2017 compared to the year before in a heartening trend. The announcement made this week (28th May 2018) was published in a report.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, tobacco use is responsible for deaths of over 6 million people yearly worldwide. Around 80 percent of the smokers globally belong to low and middle income countries. This tobacco epidemic is one of the “biggest public health threats” according to the WHO. This report shows that tobacco related deaths are 200 a day in France and 73000 a year.

The report suggests that regular smoking each day in France has gone down from 29.4 percent in 2016 to 26.9 percent in 2017. The ministry said that their strategy in 2016, National Tobacco Reduction Plan (PNRT), was responsible for reducing tobacco use in France.

Some of the salient points of the report included;

• The report showed that Ile-de-France where Paris is one of the areas where the number of smokers is the lowest.
• The number of smokers in 2016 were 13.2 million from which it came down to 12.2 million in 2017.
• Smoking rates were lowered among unemployed and low income groups as well
• Smoking rates were reduced significantly among men aged between ages of 18 and 24 (a decline of 9 percent) and among women aged between 55 and 64 (a decline of 3 percent).

The report states that the PNRT involved development of several apps and telephone hotlines along with information service providers that helped the smokers to quit. Higher pricing of the cigarettes as well as neutral packaging, campaigns such as “tobacco free months” and advent of tobacco substitutes have been part of this programme and have helped many people quit.

Francois Bourdillon, director general of the public health agency said in a statement, “This historic decline proves to everyone that it is possible to fight against smoking through coherent and integrated actions.”

According to the Public Health France, this decline is the most significant one seen in the past decade.

France's Health Minister Agnès Buzyn said “tobacco is a trajectory of inequality, it weighs particularly on the most disadvantaged and it gets worse.” This reduction of smoking in the low income groups thus is a very welcome change. She tweeted, “This is the result of prevention measures that prove their worth, and good news that strengthens my commitment to the ... health of all.” Increase in cigarette prices could be one of the biggest contributors to this trend she said and it is likely to escalate in coming years she announced when cigarettes would become costlier.