PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARDS SMOKING AND ZOUTI (Tobacco Legislation - Restriction on the Use of Tobacco Products Act) (Source: Ministry of health, Public health directorate, Nataša Blažko)
Public opinion research (representative sample of 1000 citizens of Slovenia; August 07, November 07 and May 08)
It can be observed that the percentage of smokers decreased from 22.3 to 17.5% after the implementation of ZOUTI. In May 2008, the support of ZOUTI increased to 79.2%. About 70% of the people asked believe that the rate of employee incidence of a disease will decrease in the environment unpolluted by tobacco smoke. The belief that ZOUTI will encourage smokers to quit strengthened in May 2008 (46.6%).
The share of those people who due to ZOUTI less frequently visit public hospitality businesses increased from 12.4 to 13.3% from August to November 2007. Indexes of hospitality income increased by a few percents after the implementation of ZOUTI.
Among smokers, 20.5% are such who are trying to quit smoking. The percentage of these continually increases from August 2007 until May 2008 (13.6 to 20.5%). It is evident from the data of the Agency for Public Legal Records and Related services that after the implementation of ZOUTI the activity of restaurants and taverns, especially self-service restaurants, sweetshops, and cafés strengthens.
World research of youth attitude towards tobacco (Source: Medical Faculty, Chair for public health, asist.mag. Mojca Juričič, MD)
Young people in their adolescence discover new things and thus come into contact with tobacco products. Smoking is in this period due to development and growth all the more harmful for the organism, the same goes for the exposure to passive smoking. The author emphasizes, on the basis of the research, where are the points, to which Slovenia should pay more attention:
- consistent implementation of the legislation about the ban of selling cigarettes to children and adolescents;
- inspection of public places – is ZOUTI actually realised?;
- information about the harmful effects of smoking should be made available in an appropriate manner to the young people in schools;
- influence parents and peers, who are smokers, through the young people;
- offer young smokers programmes for cassation and rehabilitation
Age 13 - 15 years, between 2003 and 2007:
- the percentage of young people, who have ever smoked, decreased from 66.4 to 61.6%;
- the percentage of regular smokers decreased from 28.5 to 24.9%;
- the percentage of young people, who started smoking before they were ten years old, and the percentage of those, who answered that there is a chance that they would start smoking within the following year, also decreased;
- the percentage of every-day smokers increased from 7.7 to 11.4%, more distinctively with girls. The percentage of those, who answered that a cigarette was offered to them commercially, also increased from 9 to 11.3%;
- the majority of young people agrees with the ban of smoking in public places, the percentage has increased from 68.7 to 71.4%.
The wide-spread of smoking among the Slovene youth, aged 15 to 16, between 1995 and 2007, ESPAD (Source: Medical Center Ljubljana, Institute of Occupational, Traffic and Sports Medicine, Eva Stergar, MA)
- in the period between 1995 and 2007, statistically typical is the increase of those, who have smoked one cigarette in their entire lives, from 59 to 67%;
- increase of regular smoking from 16 to 27%;
- decrease in the percentage of those, who have never smoked tobacco from 41 to 33%;
- decrease in the percentage of those, for whom smoking was just experimenting.
- Between 2003 and 2007, a decrease in the number of those who have smoked just one cigarette to 61%;
- decrease of regular smoking from 27 to 21.9%;
- the change was probably influenced by the system solutions (the restriction of smoking in public places, the tobacco advertising ban and the ban on sponsorship of events from the tobacco industry, the implementation of systematical education of youth within the school curriculum (Encourage non-smoking – 3rd and 4th grade of primary school until its end).
The author believes that more effort should be placed in the further development and spread of education of non-smoking generations within the school curriculum, and also in the strict implementation of ZOUTI provisions (ban on selling tobacco to people under 18 years old).
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