| Serbia marks No Smoking Day |
| 30 January 2009 | 15:57
| Source:
Beta |
BELGRADE --
Serbia today marks National No Smoking Day, as new anti-smoking restrictions loom.
As part a campaign which, for the first half of the year, is running under the slogan, “Tobacco Smoke is a Serial Killer,” and in the second “Throw out Tobacco Smoke”, a gradual introduction of no-smoking laws in restaurants and cafés in Serbia has been announced.
Smoking is one of the leading causes of death in the world and cigarettes are the only legal product that kill a third to half of those who consume it.
So-called passive smoking, which is indirectly inhaled, is officially classified as a known carcinogen, which can cause cancer, most often of the lungs, as well as often fatal, acute and chronic heart conditions and strokes.
According to a study on diseases and injuries in Serbia, in 2000, 10,187 people died due to the consequences of smoking, which is 9.8 percent of the total number of deaths, and rconstitutes a 13.7 percent loss of years of life.
The same study claims that that number will increase as illnesses connected to smoking take a long time to manifest themselves.
Reports on the health of Serbian residents in 2006 showed that almost two-thirds (61.7 percent) of adult residents reported passive smoke in their homes, which, nevertheless, is slightly less than in 2000, when that percentage was 65.7.
At the workplace in 2006, passive smoke was reported by 44.9 percent of people, and in 2000, 55.5 percent.
Another investigation into smoking amongst young people in 2008 showed that 77 percent of 13- to 15-year-olds live with someone who smokes in their presence, which, although high, is one-fifth less than in 2003 (97.4 percent).
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