51.5% of adult men in Armenia are smokers: specialists call this figure worrying

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. 28% of the adult population in Armenia are smokers. The number of smokers among men is 51.5%, and among women – 1.8%, Director of the National Institute of Health of Armenia Alexander Bazarchyan told a press conference in Armenpress, calling this figure quite worrying.

“51% is a high figure. In fact, approximately 1/3% of the population uses different tobacco products. Many European countries are seeking to lower the use of tobacco up to 5% by 2040, and we also have a task to lower that rate as much as possible”, he said.

The new data on smoking prevalence will be available at the end of the year when the results of ongoing research will be summed up. As electronic and similar types of cigarettes are being used actively in the recent period, the data will also reflect the use of these new tobacco products.

“Smoking is really a problem for the healthcare systems across the world, including in Armenia. Smoking is a risk factor for many serious diseases: cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Our policy includes both protecting non-smokers from second-hand smoke and supporting smokers who want to give up smoking”, Mariam Mnatsakanyan, chief organizer in the public health department at the Ministry of Healthcare of Armenia, said in her remarks.

For this purpose, the Ministry of Healthcare initiated some restrictions in the field through new legislative amendments and regulations, according to which retailers were banned to publicly display tobacco products to customers, and smoking was banned in both indoor and outdoor restaurants, cafes, bars and other similar venues, as well as other public spaces.

The changes took effect this March, but the specialists say it’s still early to speak about its concrete effects.

“We could have the exact preliminary data at the end of the next year. But we will have the real picture in five years. And only after 10-15 years we will have serious achievements, that is the decline in mortality rate caused by this or that disease”, Alexander Bazarchyan said.

The research shows that after these amendments came into effect, the rules, in general, were observed in public places in the first two months, but then the violations became more frequent. No new restrictions are expected in the future, but instead of it, the Ministry is conducting monitoring to reveal the legislative gaps in practice.

October 12 is the National No Tobacco Day in Armenia.

Armenia ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on October 12, 2004.