Cigarette Smoking among Czechs
Published on October 30, 2009 8:34 AM
Many people are addicted to smoking, but from ten-million countries two million of addicted smokers are Czechs. Doctor Eva Kralikova, expert in the tobacco addiction, said at a meeting of the European Community (EC) representation that some 80 percent of smokers are addicted to nicotine, she added.
About 250,000 of Czech smokers are under 18 years-old. Ms. Kralikova reported that in Prague, usually people smoke their first cigarette at the age of ten. In general Czech children are among the youths that smoke the highest number of cigarettes in the world.
Not only smoking but even the passive smoking harms the Czech children’s health, because as it is known cigarette smoke is as risky for veins as active smoking. Kralikova referring to statistics from the countries where this ban was implemented declared that only a complete ban on smoking on public places in the Czech Republic would annually save 0.5 billion lives as it would decrease the heart attack incidence in the country by 15 percent.
Scientists found that a total of 76 percent of Czech voters wish for non-smoking restaurants. Statistics show that 96 percent of the population considers the smoking ban an important law, a success and 93 percent consider it a good legislation. They also showed that some 80 billion crowns are annually spent on smoking consequences in the Czech Republic, and 7 billion on passive smoking consequences, while the revenues from tax on tobacco are 35 billion. On the contrary no study, except for those subsidized by tobacco producers, proved a negative impact of the ban on smoking on restaurant businesses, Kralikova explained.
In Sweden and the United States, the number of smokers among children is three times lower than in the Czech Republic, the survey showed. The Czechs have figured in top positions in similar surveys for a long time. This is a result of the general atmosphere in society that still does not consider smoking among youths a serious problem," Zdenek Dienstbier, head of the Cancer League Organization. According to experts, up to 60 people die of smoking results daily and a half of smokers lives a 15-year shorter life on average compared to non-smokers in the Czech Republic.
