EU-komissaari lopetti neuvottelut tupakkateollisuuden kanssa

– Meillähän on ihan erilaiset prioriteetit: minä haluan lopettaa heidän toimintansa, he haluavat tehdä voittoa, hymyili Byrne. Hän totesi, että tupakan mainoskielto ja teollisuuden sponsoroinnin lopettaminen ovat elintärkeitä toimia, joilla estetään teollisuuden mahdollisuus edistää tuotteidensa myyntiä.

The anti-smoking role of the Finnish Medical Association

According to contemporary estimates, Finns were the heaviest smokers in the world in 1920. After WWII, in 1949, three out of four Finnish males had the smoking habit. Gradually, research reports began to appear in the 1950s of the harmful effects of smoking. Finnish medical associations stated in their joint declaration of 1960 that smoking increases the incidence of pulmonary and cardiac disease, shortens life expectancy and is therefore a serious menace to public health. Anti-smoking combating had started in Finland.

Santero Kujala

Tarja Halonen The President of Finland: We still need discussion on the risks of smoking

The 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health will be held from August 3rd to 8th 2003 in Helsinki. The conference will bring together some 2000 professionals from 115 countries involved in tobacco control.

Ulla Järvi

Finland in the Forefront of Global Tobacco Control

Since the major smoking-associated health hazards were convincingly shown in the 1950s, the efforts to curb the smoking epidemic have gradually escalated - first in the developed countries and more recently in the developing countriesworld. The global devastating nature of the global epidemic is now widely known, mainly as a result of the visible leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has clearly helped to lift the problem from the medical discussions arena to a major issue on the global political agenda.

Liisa Elovainio, Pekka Puska

Tobacco control in Finland

The paper describes the national tobacco control efforts in Finland during the past three decades, with emphasis on implementation of a comprehensive legislation and related health promotion activities. There has been a gradual reduction of smoking among men and a levelling off of the increase among women according to a national system to monitor the trends in smoking prevalence since 1978. In 2002 some 27 % of men and 18 % of women were daily smokers in the age group 15-64 years; this level is one of the lowest in Europe. Mortality trends due to major tobacco-related major diseases (CHD, lung cancer) have improved remarkably over time. The surveys and experience show much progress and success in restricting smoking and peoples' exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, much in accordance with the respective legislations: smokefree schools and other public places, restrictions of smoking at worksites, and smokefree areas at restaurants. The Finnish tobacco control policy has been based on evidence and research, with gradual implementation and close monitoring. The policy has been quite successful, but there are still challenges to address in the future. International development, based on the successful implementation of FCTC, will be important for Finland to achieve further progress in tobacco control.

Kimmo Leppo, Pekka Puska

Tobacco epidemic in Finland

Finland has implemented a comprehensive strategy to control and constrain tobacco consumption among the population since the 1970s. A virtual epidemic of tobacco consumption with a prevalence in excess of 70 % of smoking among the adult male population has changed to a moderate prevalence of 28 %. Female smoking has become a problem, as is the case in many western countries, and 20 % of all adult women smoke daily. The decrease in male smoking prevalence continued until the 1990s and was due to both a decrease in smoking initiation and an increase in smoking cessation. The consumption of tobacco products peaked in the early 1970s and was annually 1,75 kilos per capita for every Finn aged 15-year and older. The consumption of tobacco decreased from 1973 to 1977 by 10 % and over the next 15 years by one percent annually. The enforcement of the Tobacco Control Act has had a positive effect on supporting the decrease of smoking and tobacco consumption.

Kristiina Patja, Erkki Vartianen

Epidemiology of tobacco related cancers in Finland

The paper reviews the trends in the incidence and mortality of lung cancer and some non-pulmonary tobacco related cancers in Finland and the other Nordic countries. The incidence of lung cancer is declining among men and increasing among women. Smoking is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity.

Risto Sankila

Cardiovascular disease mortality trends in Finland

The prevalence of smoking has changed markedly and rapidly since the 1970s. This paper examines the concomitant changes in cardiovascular mortality since 1973 on the basis of data extracted from the National Causes of Deaths Register (Statistics Finland). For comparison, international mortality data from the World Health Organization's database was used.

Pekka Jousilahti

Trends in adolescents' tobacco use in Finland in 1977-2003

Preventing children's tobacco use was particularly emphasized in the health-focused tobacco control policy expressed in the Tobacco Act of 1977. The effects of the policy on tobacco use have been monitored every second year by the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey. Daily tobacco use by 14-18-year-olds decreased after the 1977 Tobacco Act, but the effect was short-term. A slow increase in daily tobacco use among the girls started in the mid-1980s. Changes were less consistent among the boys. As a consequence, sex differences have nearly disappeared. Today, girls aged 14-16 use tobacco more often than boys. Experimenting with tobacco has been postponed to an older age since the beginning of the 1980s, particularly among boys. The results of 2003 suggest that daily tobacco use is decreasing among the 14-16-year-olds, particularly among boys with the exception of 18-year-olds.

Arja H. Rimpelä, Susanna U. Rainio

How to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke?

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) occurs when a person inhales tobacco smoke originating from the smoking of other people. Tobacco smoke is a mixture of over 4 000 chemical substances of which 40 are carcinogenic. ETS constitutes a serious but preventable cause of morbidity and mortality among exposed individuals.

Kari Reijula