Almost Half of Bulgarians Are Smokers Shows Survey

Society | May 8, 2021, Saturday // 21:39
Bulgaria: Almost Half of Bulgarians Are Smokers Shows Survey

Between 45.7 and 50.4 per cent of Bulgaria's youth use tobacco products, the Smoke Free Life Coalition said, quoting a survey by the BlueLink Foundation.

The  survey is part of a Smoke Free Life Coalition project supported  by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

The study analyzed data collected through two nationally representative polls conducted by Exacta Research Group in the 18-35 age group in September and December 2020.

The results show that a vast majority of 70 per cent of young people do not approve of tobacco use and support policies to limit that. Many regard smoking as a considerable problem which has to be addressed with serious measures.

Nearly 58 per cent of  the young people say there has to be stricter and more effective enforcement of the ban on smoking in indoor public places, and agree that the state should not allow the tobacco industry to meddle in the drafting and application of policies related to public health. Nearly one in two believe that advertisement of tobacco products should be banned. Over one-third of the young respondents said they would vote for  a political force offering policies for limiting smoking among youth in Bulgaria.

Despite being relatively new on the market, heated tobacco products rank third among all used tobacco products in our country, ahead of hookahs. Nearly one-fifth of respondents believe that hookah and heated tobacco products are more harmless than cigarettes. Most frequently, young people begin smoking before they turn 18.

 Nearly one-fifth do so between 10 and 14. The share of those who reach for cigarettes after 25 is very small. Only one-fourth of the respondents say that there are no people who smoke in their presence around them, while 43.5 per cent report smokers around them at home or at work.

Willpower has helped 85.2 per cent of the respondents give up smoking, 3.7 per cent did so with the help of friends and the percentage of those who used e-cigarettes.

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