Smoking claimed the life of nearly 300 Maltese people in 2006 and despite the knowledge available on this stinking habit, teenagers have continued to light up.
Anne Buttigieg, senior occupational therapist at the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department, is alarmed by the impact that smoking is having on the population's health.
Though the department strives hard to get the message across, and at times the campaigns were extremely successful, all too often people were choosing to ignore the warnings, she said.
"I'm hearing too often the comment from people I encounter: 'I only smoke a packet a day'. Even one cigarette is harmful, let alone a packet. I'm very alarmed by these remarks," Ms Buttigieg said, adding that 270 men and over 100 women died from smoking related illnesses in 2006.
Speaking to The Times to remind people to take part in the European Smoke-free Quit Awards 2008, which closes at the end of the month, Ms Buttigieg expressed her concern over the situation.
Having recently aired her views at the seminar titled Cardiovascular Disease: Are We Doing Enough?, Ms Buttigieg referred to numerous studies which showed worrying trends among 15-year-olds.
These studies showed that the number of 15-year-old boys who smoked had shot up to 40.1 per cent in 2006/7 from 37.6 per cent in 2001/2, while the rate of girls smoking had made a greater jump to 45.4 per cent compared to 40.2 per cent in a matter of five years.
"This will obviously have a ripple effect on the entire smoking population in Malta," Ms Buttigieg said.
According to a Eurobarometer survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco carried out in 2006, Malta's smoking population had increased to 25 per cent from 21.5 per cent in 1995 - 86 per cent of these were regular smokers, while 21 per cent smoked from 21 to 24 cigarettes a day.
Fortunately, the overall smoking population remained below the EU average of 32 per cent, but Ms Buttigieg feels this is no cause for celebration, since tobacco companies were constantly getting new recruits in the form of teenagers as the studies clearly showed.
"If youngsters continue smoking at this rate, we'll eventually reach the EU average. Having a quarter of the population smoking is already having social and economic effects on society," she said.
"As a department we're doing things, but it's not enough and we need to do more. The figures from studies on smoking among youngsters are not at all encouraging," she said.
The plan to achieving national tobacco cessation involved targeting schoolchildren to catch them young so that they will not light up in the first place; cessation programmes among healthcare providers; online support systems; and printing the Quitline number on every cigarette packet were just a few of the steps that could be taken.
"We need to work together. Individually we can make a difference, but together we can save lives," she said.
Referring to the smoke-free awards, Ms Buttigieg said the search was on for a person who had quit and had an inspirational story behind stubbing out the habit, which could be shared to inspire fellow European smokers to follow suit.
If you have managed to quit or plan to give up this habit, you have until January 31 to enter the competition. The winner from Malta will be awarded a free trip to the European final in Amsterdam where one of 12 finalists will be crowned the European Smoke-free Quitter of the Year and scoop €15,000 (Lm6,439.50) worth of holiday vouchers.
An application can be downloaded from http://sahha.gov.mt and sent to the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department, The Emporium, St Louis Street, Msida. For information call the Quitline number on 2326 6000 or 2326 6116.