The HSE is set to launch a new advertising campaign in an attempt to curb cigarette consumption in Ireland.
New research from Healthy Ireland revealed that roughly one in five Irish adults smokes, with the rate of cigarette use remaining the same as reported in 2019. However, experts say that the while smoking had decreased in women, the number of young men who now smoke has gone up.
Worryingly the rate in children has gone up for the first time 25 years, and is now at 14 per cent. This is said to be linked to e-cigarette use, where children are twice as likely to start smoking if they use e-cigarettes.
Professor Luke Clancy, a Consultant Respiratory Physician from the TobaccoFree Research Institute says that the prevalence of smoking during the pandemic has not been addressed, leading to poorer habits. He said that a combination of the pandemic and e-cigarette use was contributing to a general rise in smoking.
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He told RTE’s Morning Ireland: “The situation was complicated a little by Covid. More people died from smoking than from Covid since the beginning of the pandemic."
He said that Ireland dropped the ball addressing smoking during the pandemic: “There was much less done about smoking, the services weren’t available in person or set up online. We didn’t focus on getting people to stop smoking which would have been really important in the time of Covid- if you smoked, you were twice as likely to go to hospital or ICU at the time.”
He admitted that while e-cigarette use can act as a method to stop people smoking regular cigarettes, their rising popularity amongst young people is enabling the rate of smoking to go up. The introduction of e-cigarettes is ultimately allowing smoking to increase despite anecdotal evidence they act as a deterrent, he says.
The HSE’s Quit Service is encouraging people to give up smoking in the New Year to maintain a healthier lifestyle. It is currently promoting its 28 day challenge, as people who are able to give up cigarettes for this amount of time are more likely to quit on a permanent basis.
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