Key Points

• In 2018, the number of participants in Smoke-Free Month 2018 in the Hauts-de-France region was 25,932, an increase compared to previous years. Participants in Smoke-Free Month 2018 thus represented 2.0% [1.8–2.2] of daily smokers in the region. Compared to the high prevalence of smoking in the region (30.8%), this proportion is still low but remains equivalent to that observed in metropolitan France (1.9%).

• During the 2018 Smoke-Free Month campaign, 1,013 initiatives were carried out in the Hauts-de-France region and recorded in the OSCARS database, representing a significant increase compared to the previous campaign in 2017, during which 239 initiatives were carried out.

• The Hauts-de-France region, along with the Grand Est region, is one of two regions where nearly half of daily smokers (48%) regularly purchase tobacco in a neighboring country; Belgium tops the list of countries cited.

• In Hauts-de-France in 2015, the total number of deaths attributable to smoking was estimated at 8,040, representing 14.5% of all deaths occurring in the region that same year. This proportion is slightly higher than the 13% estimated for France as a whole that same year.

• The proportion of deaths attributable to smoking among women in the Hauts-de-France region was 5.7% in 2015, lower than the national average of 6.9%. In contrast, among men, this proportion was the highest observed in France, with 23.2% of deaths attributable to smoking, compared to 19.3% nationally.