The fight against tobacco stagnates: new (young) smokers replace ex-smokers

BarcelonaLast year, 21.4% of the Catalan population over the age of 15 smoked, or one in five, a figure that has remained stable since 2017. The fight against smoking, a serious public health problem, has stagnated, as policies to reduce the number of smokers have not been entirely effective for years. In fact, around 10,000 people die each year in Catalonia from diseases associated with tobacco and secondhand smoke. The Secretary of Public Health, Esteve Fernández, claimed that the figures are much better than in recent decades, but admitted that there is still room for improvement, especially in two key areas: preventing young people from starting this addictive habit and helping those already hooked quit.

In this regard, the Spanish government plans to approve a royal decree to limit access to new forms of consumption—e-cigarettes, vapes, and flavored nicotine products that do not contain tobacco—and approve plain packaging, meaning all brands must have the same packaging. Furthermore, the State has committed to reforming the law, which will include a ban on smoking in new outdoor spaces, such as bar and restaurant terraces, which must go to Congress for a vote. However, there is currently no forecast as to when this will be done. Meanwhile, Catalonia is awaiting the measure to improve indicators that have remained virtually unchanged for eight years.

In fact, Catalonia is working to ensure the new anti-smoking law is passed, although Fernández has acknowledged that it is moving at a slower pace than they would like. Even so, they are not currently considering implementing their own measures to prevent and control smoking. The Secretary of Public Health presented the results of the Catalan Health Survey (ESCA) this Monday, coinciding with Smoke-Free Week, which runs until Saturday. According to the survey results, last year, half of the population over the age of fifteen who had smoked at some point in their lives declared themselves ex-smokers, indicating that smoking cessation techniques are effective. However, the number of smokers has remained stable in recent years because there has been no success in discouraging smoking among adolescents and young people.

For this reason, this year's Smoke-Free Week is specifically aimed at the younger population and focuses on the importance of maintaining a lifestyle that contributes to preserving health by avoiding the use of tobacco and nicotine products. In fact, products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco are of concern to the Department of Health because they act as a gateway to smoking for many young people. In fact, although e-cigarette use among the general population remains at "relatively low levels," the Department of Health assures that many people have experimented with these products, and that they do so during adolescence is a cause for concern for the department.

How to quit smoking

Last year, 66,926 people quit smoking through primary care centers (CAP), and another 13,987 smokers underwent cessation treatment at a center in the Catalan Network of Smoke-Free Hospitals (XCHSF). In fact, since January 2020, the National Health System's portfolio of pharmaceutical benefits has included various medications that effectively and safely help those who wish to quit smoking. Since then, 290,895 people have benefited from the use of these medications to help them quit smoking.