10 years of passive smoking ban – “The proportion of smokers has hardly changed” – News



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The federal law on protection against passive smoking has been in force since May 1, 2010. The law applies to closed rooms that are open to the public or that serve as workplaces for multiple people. It establishes that cantons can issue stricter health protection regulations. Claudia Künzli of the Lung League takes stock.

Claudia Künzli

Claudia Künzli

Project Manager for Health Promotion and Prevention, Swiss Lung League

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Claudia Künzli has been Director of Health Promotion and Prevention at the Swiss Lung League since 2013.

SRF News: Ten years ago, the new federal law on protection against passive smoking came into effect. What has the law contributed to the health of the population?

Claudia Künzli: The proportion of nonsmokers exposed to passive smoking for at least one hour a day fell from 16% to 6%, according to the 2017 Swiss health survey. The 15-24 year old age group Añales

Why

This has to do with the outgoing behavior of children. In bars and clubs, smoking is still allowed in separate rooms. We would have liked more protection.

How does the decline in passive smoking appear in disease and death statistics?

Exact numbers are missing here. What is certain is that 9,500 people die in Switzerland every year as a result of tobacco. We assume that there are several hundred passive smokers among them. Before 2010, around 1,000 people were expected to die each year from passive smoking.

What impact did the introduction of the law have ten years ago on smoking behavior?

The proportion of smokers has hardly changed since then. On the other hand, the consumption of cigarettes per person decreased from 17 cigarettes per day to 13 today.

Today, not smoking is considered the norm.

What has also changed: Today, smoking is considered the norm. Before 2010, smoking was the norm. This is also reflected in the fact that young people smoke less today than in the past.

Do you smoke e-cigarettes for this?

There is actually a certain change. More than 50 percent of 15-year-old boys say they have tried e-cigarettes, compared to 35 percent of girls. However, it is not known whether young people who start e-cigarettes later switch to normal cigarettes.

The interview was conducted by Daniel Stadelmann.

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