STOCKHOLM — In Sweden’s outdoor bars and eateries, summer is in the air but not cigarette smoke.
The World Health Organisation will observe “World No Tobacco Day” on Wednesday, and Sweden, which has the lowest smoking rates in the European Union, is almost ready to declare itself “smoke free” (defined as having fewer than 5% of the population smoking every day).
While others refer to the presence of “snus,” a smokeless tobacco product prohibited elsewhere in the E.U. but marketed as an alternative to cigarettes in Sweden, many experts credit decades of anti-smoking campaigns and laws.
Regardless of the cause, the 5% goal is now within sight. According to the statistics agency Eurostat, only 6.4% of Swedes over 15 smoked every day in 2019, the lowest rate in the E.U. and significantly lower than the average of 18.5% for the 27-nation bloc.
According to statistics from Sweden’s Public Health Agency, the smoking rate has decreased since then and last year, it was 5.6%.
Carina Astorsson, a Stockholm resident, claimed that the reason was that “we like a healthy way of living.” She said she had never been interested in smoking because “I don’t like the smell; I want to take care of my body.”
Younger generations of health-conscious Swedes appear to be aware of the dangers of smoking. Nearly 20% of people smoked 20 years ago, a low rate globally. Since then, anti-smoking policies, such as those that forbid smoking in restaurants, have reduced the smoking rate throughout Europe.
From 2014 to 2019, France saw record-low smoking rates, but this progress halted during the COVID-19 epidemic, which is partly blamed for creating the stress that led to smoking. In France, about one-third of those between 18 and 75 admitted smoking in 2021, a small rise from the previous year. 25% of people smoke every day.
Sweden, which has the lowest smoking rates in the European Union, is almost ready to declare itself “smoke free”.
Sweden has taken more steps than others to outlaw smoking, and the country claims that this has positively impacted several health factors, including a comparatively low rate of lung cancer.
According to Ulrika Rehed, secretary-general of the Swedish Cancer Society, “We were early in restricting smoking in public spaces, first in school playgrounds and after-school centers, and later in restaurants, outdoor cafes, and public places like bus stations.” Taxes on cigarettes and severe regulations on marketing these items have been significant concurrent factors.
She continued, “Sweden is not there yet,” pointing out that smoking prevalence is higher among underprivileged socioeconomic categories.
In the 10.5 million-person nation, seeing individuals lighting up is getting harder and harder. Outside the entrances to hospitals and other public facilities, as well as at bus stops train platforms, and smoking is not permitted. Like most of Europe, Sweden has a smoking prohibition extending to bars and restaurants’ outdoor seating areas as of 2019.
On Tuesday night, many people ate and drank on Stockholm’s terraces as the sun sank. While cigarettes were not present, some tables did have snus cans. Some drinkers put tiny pouches of moist tobacco under their upper lips between beer sips.
Long promoting their product as a less dangerous alternative to smoking, Swedish snus manufacturers take pride in the nation’s dropping smoking rates. Health officials in Sweden hesitate to suggest smokers switch to snus, another extremely addictive nicotine substance.
Rehed declared, “I don’t see any justification for pitting two harmful products against one another.” “It is true that smoking is more dangerous than most other activities, including snus. But even with snus, there are numerous health hazards.
Snus use during pregnancy has been associated in certain studies with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and preterm births.
Sweden, which has the lowest smoking rates in the European Union, is almost ready to declare itself “smoke free”.
When Sweden joined the E.U. in 1995, they wanted an exception to the E.U.’s ban on smokeless tobacco since they are so fond of their snus, a distant relative of dipping tobacco in the United States.
“It’s part of the Swedish culture; it’s like the Swedish equivalent of Italian Parma ham or any other cultural habit,” said Patrik Hildingsson, a spokesman for Swedish Match, the leading snus producer in Sweden that tobacco giant Philip Morris recently purchased.
According to him, policymakers should push the tobacco industry to create less dangerous smoking substitutes like snus and e-cigarettes.
“I mean, there are still 1.2 billion smokers in the globe. In the E.U., almost 100 million individuals smoke every day. And I believe that the restrictions on policymaking are limited,” he remarked. You will need to offer smokers various alternate, less dangerous options.
Turkmenistan, which has a tobacco consumption rate below 5%, is ahead of Sweden in terms of phasing out smoking, according to WHO, the U.N. health office. However, it should be noted that this is mostly because smoking is virtually nonexistent among women. The rate is 7% for men.
The WHO credits a variety of tobacco control initiatives, such as education programs, restrictions on tobacco advertising, and “cessation support” for smokers who want to give up the habit, for Sweden’s dropping smoking rate. However, the agency pointed out that when you include snus and similar products, tobacco usage in Sweden is higher than 20% of the adult population, comparable to the global average.
Sweden, which has the lowest smoking rates in the European Union, is almost ready to declare itself “smoke free”.
In an email, which stated that “changing from one harmful product to another is not a solution.” The tobacco industry is attempting to deceive consumers about how deadly these products are by promoting a purported “harm reduction approach” to smoking.
According to Tove Marina Sohlberg, a researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University, Sweden’s anti-smoking laws stigmatize smoking and smokers, driving them into designated smoking locations and out of sight in public places.
She claimed that we are telling smokers their behavior is unacceptable in society.
One of the few remaining smokers in Stockholm, Paul Monja, thought about his habit as he prepared to light up.
He described it as an addiction that he hoped to overcome at some point. “Perhaps not now, maybe tomorrow.”
SOURCE – (AP)
