Flouting smoking laws seen highest in Malta

Over 40 per cent of Maltese citizens feel the laws banning smoking in public places are not being respected, a Eurobarometer study on tobacco has revealed.

Malta is one of the countries where smoking bans in all public places have been introduced, together with Ireland, Sweden and Italy.

Yet, while people in the three countries think smokers generally respect the law - 91 per cent in Ireland, 86 per cent in Sweden and 76 per cent in Italy - in Malta, 41 per cent feel it is being flouted.

The findings will only enforce the general perception that enforcement in Malta tends to be weaker than the legislation it is meant to uphold.

Though the four countries have introduced smoke-free legislation, in Italy (30 per cent), Malta (19 per cent) and Sweden (six per cent) people still claim to be exposed to tobacco smoke for, at least, under one hour per day.

It is estimated that tobacco consumption kills 650,000 people a year in the EU, while a further 80,000 dies as a result of passive smoking.

The wide-ranging report, which probes the European attitudes to tobacco, concludes that the majority (88 per cent) are in favour of smoke-free policies.

The survey also reveals that one in three European smokers have tried to give up in the last 12 months. However, over 70 per cent of them have relapsed into the habit in less than two months.

The Eurobarometer findings have been presented to European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou in the European Parliament to mark World No Tobacco Day, on May 31.

"I am heartened that public support for smoke-free work and public places in Europe remains so high. This can only strengthen the momentum towards making European public and work places smoke-free by 2009," he said. The study shows that this measure is most popular in Malta, Ireland and Sweden (96 per cent each). In Malta, another 95 per cent even support smoke-free restaurants throughout all member states, and in bars and pubs (81 per cent).

Moreover, all countries have increasing proportions of people who think that cancer may result from passive smoking, with the exception of Hungary and Malta (39 per cent). Malta even has the third highest rate of smokers (16 per cent) in Europe who puff away in their car in the company of children, even though 95 per cent are careful not to light up if the passenger is a pregnant woman.

On the other hand, it is encouraging to see that 57 per cent of Maltese people have never smoked, the third highest in Europe after Portugal (64 per cent) and Slovakia (59 per cent).

Of those who do light up, 24 per cent smoke packed cigarettes and two per cent smoke rolled-up tobacco. Only 14 per cent do not smoke every day, while 20 per cent puff up to a packet a day.

Malta, together with Germany, has the lowest use of nicotine replacement therapy; a mere nine per cent opt for this treatment to help them quit.

Whenever Maltese smokers have tried to quit, 88 per cent failed to seek professional help. Of those who did attempt to stub out their habit, 49 per cent said they relapsed because of stress, and 30 per cent could not cope with the cravings.

When contacted, Health Promotion director Mario Spiteri voiced his dismay that the anti-smoking regulations were not being respected, mainly in nightclubs and bars.

"The trend seems to be that the law is not being enforced in these outlets. Having said that, the law has had a good impact and many are now more assertive on insisting that people stop smoking in their presence," he said.

Delving into the results, he was also a bit surprised with the low number of people using nicotine replacement therapy, expecting it to be slightly higher.

With regard to the high number of Maltese who have never smoked, he said this was encouraging and showed that people had become more aware of the ill-effects on their health over the years.

"Tobacco companies will never go out of business, but maybe we can improve the overall figures of people who quit," Dr Spiteri said.