Cyprus: A third of Cypriots smoke

Source from:  incyprus.com.cy 06/01/2016

As many as one third of Cypriots smoke, creating one of the highest percentages in Europe, Health Minister Giorgos Pamporidis said on Monday at the start of an island-wide anti-smoking campaign.

Addressing a press conference, Pamboridis noted that "smoking constitutes a primary risk factor in Cyprus since we have one of the highest percentages of smokers in Europe, estimated to be 31% of the population."

Unfortunately, he added, according to the 2015 Eurobarometer, Cyprus is also among the top countries on exposure to smoking in the work place at 55% of workers exposed. He also noted Cyprus had the highest score for exposure to cigarette smoking in the work of between one and five hours, at 14%.

These figures, the Health Minister pointed out, highlight the importance of this year`s anti-smoking campaign. A relevant memorandum includes recommendations on how to ensure full implementation of the legislation stipulating that smoking is prohibited in public buildings and that inspections will take place, he added.

Conservative estimates show that in 2002, some 7,300 adults died in the EU, including non-smokers, as a result of passive smoking in their work place, Pamboridis noted.

Referring to the clinics helping people in Cyprus to quit smoking, Pamporidis said 276 people applied to take part in the programmes in 2015, with 208 going on to actually take part and 93 managing to complete the programme successfully.

The success rate of 45% is thought to be particularly satisfactory on the basis of international data, he added.

He further said the Ministry has launched the 1431 quit smoking telephone hotline to keep the public informed of all the free programmes available in their area.

Police Headquarters Assistant Chief of Operations Lambros Themistocleous said the police had in 2015 carried out 35,180 inspections and wrote up 7,725 people for smoking in areas prohibited by the legislation since it was put in place.

Alexis Papadopoulos, speaking on behalf of the Respiratory Society of Cyprus, said that a recent study of the Nicosia General Hospital Pulmonary Clinic with 10,000 participants found that 31.9% of people in Cyprus are smokers.

This puts Cyprus, Papadopoulos added, above the EU average of 28%. He noted that Greece ranks first with 40% of the population being smokers while northern European countries have much lower percentages of smokers. He gave the example of Sweden with 16%. Enditem