Cigarette Smoking In Poland

In the 1980s, Poland was a country with an extremely high prevalence of smoking. Tobacco is the second deadliest threat to adult health in the world. By 1990, the odds that a 15 year old Polish boy would live to the age of 60 were lower than for his peers in most countries in the world. On November 9, 1995, the Law for the Protection of Public Health against the Effects of Tobacco Use passed. Cigarette smoking accounts for nearly 100% of tobacco consumption in Poland. This paper reviews the health condition, the intervention, and the impact of tobacco use in Poland.

In the 20th century, tobacco smoking was the leading health burden and the major cause of death in the world. This burden will fall on poor countries and the poorest people

Tobacco industry data show that cigarette consumption fell by 10% between 1990 and 1998. This reduction was achieved when the market was functioning normally and despite the enormously aggressive advertising policies of the tobacco companies.

The drop in cigarette consumption was the result of reduced smoking prevalence in many different groups in society. Smoking prevalence among men decreased in all age groups between 1975 and 1999. For women, a reduction in the popularity of cigarette smoking has been observed mainly in the younger age groups. The least significant reductions and the highest smoking prevalence are among middle-aged Poles of both genders, with no decline in prevalence evident among middle-aged women.

To sum up, smoking in Poland peaked at the end of the 1970s, with approximately 14 million smokers, at that time 62% of all adult men and 30% of adult women smoked, and percentages for many age groups were higher. Prevalence levels remained at these levels in the 1980s. At present, slightly fewer than 10 million Poles smoke, about 40% of adult Polish men and a little more than 20% of adult polish women. The drop in smoking across much of the Polish population has improved the country’s health indicators. As noted at the beginning of this paper, the incidence of lung cancer is the best and most specific measure of changes in exposure to tobacco smoke.

Hungary has not implemented effective tobacco control measures, and unlike the trend in Poland, the incidence figures in Hungary are ever for young and middle-aged adult men and women.

Paralleling the changes in lung cancer mortality in Poland are decreasing mortality trends for other tobacco related cancers, such as those of the oral cavity, larynx, and pancreas. Another positive change since 1991 has been a significant 20% reduction in cardiovascular disease. About 10% to 40% of al cardiovascular disease in Poland is estimated to tobacco related. Exposure to cigarette smoke plays a less important role in cardiovascular disease than in lung cancer, but some of the decrease in cardiovascular disease is probably due to reduced exposure to cigarette smoke.

The reduction in smoking in Poland in the1990s was also a factor in the drop in infant death risk during that decade. The lower risk is related to a decrease in the percentage of infants with low birth weight from 8% to 6% in 1999. An estimated 20% to 30% of the reduction in risk can be attributed to lower exposure to cigarette smoke among pregnant women, their unborn, and newborn babies. Between 1985 and 1999, the prevalence of smoking among women age 20-29 dropped significantly, by about 23