Smoking and health : a statement of concern from the Department of Medicine, University of Malta Medical School

Abstract

There can be no reasonable doubt that smoking is now a major public health problem in Malta. The trends of smoking patterns among the Maltese are alarming. Much to the detriment of the health of the Maltese, there has been a steadily rising trend in smoking habits. This is especially evident among school-children, young adults and women in general. It can safely be said that among these groups, smoking has now reached epidemic proportions. A recent survey among the Maltese population revealed that in the age-group 25 to 29 years, 60% of males and 45.7% of females smoked regularly. This trend is even more worrying when one considers Maltese school-children. In the age-group 14 to 16 years, 29.3% of boys and 14.9% of girls were self- declared smokers. In the majority of these, the age of starting smoking was 13 years, while boys tended to start smoking even earlier. This rapidly increasing addiction to tobacco in Malta is also mirrored by the rate of consumption of cigarettes. Over the years 1980-1982, there was a 15.5% rise in sales of cigarettes and in fact consumption in 1982 stood at a staggering 4.02kg per head. Moreover, unless curbed, these trends will continue to rise as tobacco is more insidiously addictive than heroin. At a population level, the consequences and the burdens that the Maltese health system will have to shoulder in the future will be massive and disastrous.