Today is World No Tobacco Day, an awareness event organised by the World Health organisation and running under the motto "Commit to Quit". In the context of this day, the national Cancer Foundation reiterates the grave and detrimental consequences that the consumption of tobacco can have.
135,000 Luxembourgish residents smoke, so more than a quarter of the population. 17% of them consider themselves daily smokers. This means the country has reached an elevated level that was last seen 15 years ago.
Back in 2019, a rise in smokers was recorded, which officials from the Foundation then discarded as an anomaly. However, the trend has continued since, which may be related to the rise of the pandemic. Director Lucienne Thommes commented: "The tobacco industry continues to advertise both directly and indirectly, and they may have secretly benefitted from the change of attention that the pandemic has brought along."
At present, more men are smoking than women, but the rate of the latter is also increasing constantly. Over the past five years, the percentage of female smokers has increased from 18 to 25%. Especially the 25 to 34 age group recorded massive increases. Smokers below the age of 35 make up one third of the total. The only age group that has not experienced an increase is the one between 45 and 54.
Thommes further noted: "The tendency may also be linked to the mental struggles that young people have to face since the beginning of the pandemic. I think we can all agree that it is not a lot of fun being a student at the moment."
Half of smokers represented in the study said they wanted to quit. 2o years ago that rate was still 60%. The Cancer Foundation thus concludes that the 2017 tobacco laws have not brought about the expected results. Shishas have also experienced a steady increase in popularity in recent years.
Director Thommes also underlined that many smokers struggled significantly after contracting Covid-19, which makes this a perfect time to relaunch efforts to fight the consumption. The Foundation thus demands more preventive measures, which should be extended to universities, given that the respective age group has the biggest rate of smokers. Furthermore, a complete ban on advertising should be introduced, and package design needs to become even more neutral.
However, the biggest problem according to the Foundation remains the low price tag. They thus conclude that Luxembourg should look abroad for examples where higher taxation is showing results.
