The epidemic overshadowed by the pandemic
Poland is coping poorly with the addiction to smoking, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has for years called an "epidemic". Every year, as a result of smoking, around 7 million people die worldwide and over one million non-smokers who have been passively exposed to cigarette smoke.
In Poland, there are about 80,000 people due to smoking. deaths annually. According to the Eurobarometer of the European Commission, only 12% of our smokers said they quit. It is one of the three lowest rates in the entire EU. There are 3 specialist smoking cessation clinics in our country. About 800 patients use their services annually.
Nearly 8 million Poles smoke actively, and 14 million are exposed to passive smoking, i.e. second hand cigarette smoke. Meanwhile, the excess mortality in Poland in 2020 was one of the highest in the EU. On average, 1/5 of all deaths per year in our country are attributed to active, but also passive smoking.
- Cigarette smoking is the most important factor in the loss of healthy life years, and our risk of premature death and loss of quality of life is 15% higher for women and 25% higher for men than in other EU countries - emphasized Dr. Grzegorz Juszczyk, director of the National Institute of Public Health - PZH.
Good example from New Zealand
Prof. K. Filipiak suggested that Poland shoul...
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