New data from the Santé publique France Barometer released today show that French people’s exposure to secondhand smoke is decreasing at home but remains stable in the workplace, even though it is prohibited by law. In light of this, Santé publique France is launching a campaign to promote the remote support service Tabac info service to the general public and in workplaces.

Within the workplace, exposure varies by socio-professional category

Despite regulations adopted in 2007, 15.7% of working-age adults (18–64 years old) reported in 2017 that they had been exposed to secondhand smoke from others within their workplace premises during the previous 30 days.
Regarding this exposure within the workplace, social inequalities are marked: manual workers are four times more likely (27.4%) than managers and professionals (6.4%) to report being exposed.

Inside the home, smoking is declining but remains common

The presence of someone smoking inside the home decreased significantly between 2014 and 2018, regardless of the respondent’s smoking status and regardless of the frequency of that smoking. Smoking in the home thus decreased significantly from 27.5% in 2014 to 17.6% in 2018, whether observed regularly (from 19.4% to 12.5%) or occasionally (from 8.1% to 5.1%).

This decline is particularly pronounced among:

• daily smokers: the frequency of smoking at home decreased by 14 percentage points (from 52% in 2014 to 37.9% in 2018)

• smokers living in a household with a child: the frequency of smoking at home was cut in half between 2014 and 2018, dropping from 31.6% to 14.4% in the presence of a child under 4 years of age.

However, the proportion of people reporting tobacco use inside the home remains high among heavy smokers and is not insignificant in households with children.

A campaign to promote Tabac Info Service

Santé publique France is launching a digital information campaign about the smoking cessation support service, Info Service, and its helpline, 39 89. Its goal: to encourage smokers to use this service to help them quit smoking.

Four messages will be displayed as banners to help internet users better understand how the program works and learn about its benefits:

• Free of charge: free service + cost of a standard call

• flexibility: the option to schedule a phone appointment with a tobacco specialist who will call you back

• Effectiveness: 87% of service users believe that the telephone support provided by Tabac info service helped them in their efforts to quit smoking

As part of this campaign, tobacco specialists from Tabac info service will host Facebook Live sessions for the first time, offering internet users a space to engage with experts. Each session will be preceded by a teaser to announce the date to users and allow them to prepare their questions.

From February to May, several topics will be covered:

February 12: Quitting smoking and weight gain;
March: Strategies for quitting smoking;
April: E-cigarettes;
May: The challenges of the first few days.
These discussions will be available for 7 days after the live broadcast on the Tabac info service Facebook page and as sponsored links in news feeds.

Finally, to complement this public awareness campaign, Santé publique France is providing companies with a poster and a video to raise employee awareness about quitting smoking and promote the Tabac info service tools. These materials will be widely distributed to the network of #MoisSansTabac partner companies and available for download on the agency’s website.