World health body paints mixed picture of smoking prevention efforts
While the number of smokers worldwide has fallen, just four countries are taking adequate prevention steps, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Switzerland is a laggard, at least according to most recent statistics.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/dos
Español
es
La prevención del tabaquismo presenta un panorama desigual
A report by the Geneva-based WHO said on Monday that Brazil, Mauritius, Turkey and the Netherlands were the only countries to have implemented all recommended anti-tobacco measures.
Eight countries are meanwhile just one policy step away from joining this select group: Ethiopia, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain.
That said, the proportion of smokers worldwide fell from 22.8% in 2007 to 17% in 2021. “Slowly but surely, more and more people are being protected from the harms of tobacco,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In Switzerland the smoking rate fell in the early 2000s but has since stagnated, according to the Federal Office for Public Health (FOPH); in 2017 it was 27.1%.
About a fifth of the population uses tobacco daily, while 8% are occasional smokers. There are more male smokers (31%) than female (23%).
Just over 20% of 15-19-year-olds smoke. The proportion is highest among the 20-24-year-old category (c. 40%). The rate then steadily declines with age.
Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the world, the WHO says. It kills 8.7 million people each year, including 1.3 million from second-hand smoke.
In Switzerland, tobacco causes 9,500 premature deaths each year, and the annual costs of medical treatment for tobacco-related diseases come to some CHF3 billion ($3.43 billion).
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.