Smoking in France: 1 million fewer daily smokers
There were one million fewer daily smokers in 2017, according to Santé publique France in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin published to mark World No Tobacco Day. This historic decline comes amid a strong push to combat smoking, with the implementation of major measures under the National Plan to Reduce Smoking (PNRT) in 2016 and a prevention strategy that is increasingly tailored to smokers: the launch of Tobacco-Free Month and the creation of the new Tabac Info Service app in partnership with the French National Health Insurance.
Reducing smoking: it’s possible
According to data from the 2017 Health Barometer* by Santé publique France, the prevalence of daily smoking fell from 29.4% in 2016 to 26.9% in 2017, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points. This represents one million fewer daily smokers in one year. This trend is particularly pronounced among:
men aged 18 to 24: 44% in 2016 vs. 35% in 2017
women aged 55 to 64: 21% vs. 18% in 2017
Furthermore, data from the 2017 Health Barometer highlight significant regional disparities: Île-de-France and Pays-de-Loire were the regions with the lowest smoking rates in 2017, with prevalence rates of 21.3% and 23%, respectively. Conversely, in four regions, smoking prevalence was higher than in the rest of mainland France: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (32.1%), Hauts-de-France (30.5%), Occitanie (30.3%), and Grand-Est (30.1%).
Another notable finding is that daily smoking is also declining among the most disadvantaged smokers: falling from 39% in 2016 to 34% in 2017 among low-income individuals and from 50% to 44% among the unemployed. As a result, for the first time since the early 2000s, social inequalities in smoking have stopped growing. This is one of the objectives of the National Tobacco Reduction Program launched in 2014.
"We have committed to measuring smoking prevalence every year, a key indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of prevention policies. Today, this historic decline proves to everyone that it is possible to combat smoking through consistent and integrated actions," emphasizes François Bourdillon, Director General of Santé publique France |
Tabac Info Service launches campaign for May 31
Nevertheless, the fight against smoking must continue. Accordingly, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, together with Santé publique France and the National Health Insurance, is launching a new campaign to promote the various services of Tabac Info Service from May 31 to June 30. Today, Tabac Info Service provides personalized and effective support to help everyone quit smoking through four different services:
The toll-free hotline 39 89, which received 50,298 calls in 2017
The website tabac-info-service.fr, which had 3,145,685 unique visitors in 2017
The mobile app, available on smartphones and tablets, which was downloaded 205,795 times in 2017
The Facebook page, which had 104,805 followers as of May 15.
To mark May 31, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, in partnership with Santé publique France and the National Health Insurance, is launching a major campaign to promote Tabac Info Service. The TV spots feature the friends and family of people who have successfully quit smoking thanks to one of its services: the app, the website, or the 39 89 hotline. They will air on broadcast TV channels from June 11 to 24. The initiative will also be promoted on the radio from May 31 to June 26, online from May 31 to June 30, and via billboards from May 29 to June 18.
The poster campaign also encourages smokers to seek help from a healthcare professional to get all the support they need.
* A representative random survey of the population aged 18–75, conducted among 25,319 individuals between January and July 2017.
