Smoking cessation

Türkiye has emerged as the leading nation globally for the highest number of cigarettes smoked, earning the disconcerting distinction with 17.1 cigarettes per capita per day, according to a European Union (EU) Statistics Office report.

Greece could have prevented almost 170,000 deaths between 2000 and 2019 if it had followed Sweden's example in combating smoking, according to the findings of the report Saving Lives Like Sweden, signed by leading experts in smoking harm reduction from around the world. 

After quitting smoking two years ago and saving the money he would have otherwise spent on cigarettes, a man living in the western province of İzmir has turned his 2004 model vehicle into a caravan.

Mehmet Ardil, a 38-year-old auto electrician, decided to quit smoking two packs of cigarettes a day when he became a father of twin boys.

By treating heated tobacco products the same as regular cigarettes, the Health Ministry is attempting to make them "unattractive."

About 40% of young people (between 15 and 29 years old) in Bulgaria smoke traditional cigarettes practically every day, including 14% of young people under the age of 18 who are smokers. This is shown by a sociological survey by "Gallup International Balkan" commissioned by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, conducted in October.

Montenegrin Customs officers seize tobacco in the Port of Bar. Photo: Government of Montenegro

The Customs Office said it seized eight containers with 4,000 boxes of tobacco owned by a US company, Lenora International, registered in the US state of Delaware.

Some 250,000 Turkish citizens have quit smoking with the help of "Alo 171," a phone line connecting smokers with the health officials who help them to quit, the country's Health Ministry has said.

In a statement issued for May 31, World No Tobacco Day, the ministry highlighted that more than 700,000 people called the line in 2021 and more than one third succeeded in quitting.

Oral nicotine pouches or lozenges, a novel flavoured nicotine product, are gaining popularity. This substance fills the space between the cheek and the gum. They don't have tobacco in them, but they do have nicotine, flavourings, sweeteners, and plant fibres. 

Bulgarians largely underestimate the risks of smoking. The Bulgarian knows everything, especially in the field of medicine, but there is a psychological barrier - he/she ignores the dangers, he/she knows that it is harmful, there is no organ and cell that are not damaged, but this applies to the other, not to them personally.

A recent study from the University of Burgundy found that even though women smoke fewer cigarettes than men but they are less likely to quit.