Bulgaria - 1 in 3 youths smoke / half of pregnant women smoke..

March 9, 2009 - In Bulgaria one in three youths between 10 and 19 years of age is an active smoker. These are the observations from the campaign "HELP - life without smoking" from last year, zdrave.net reported.

Half of the pregnant women in Bulgaria also smoke. On number of smoked cigarettes per day Bulgarians take third place among Europeans, as they need a pack per day. In Bulgaria active smokers are 1.9 million people (total population 7,521,066). In 1986 women smokers in Bulgaria were 19%, now they are 38%. Men smokers are 52.4%.

The Bulgarian Ministry of health alerts that smoking is among the main causes of 25 diseases, and is also a reason for their change for worse. Smoking is the main cause of death in the European Union, making its limitation a vital part of the European Community health policy.

The European Commission's "Help - a life without smoking" campaign started in 2007 in Bulgaria. Its priorities are prevention of smoking, quitting smoking, and the risks of passive smoking.

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References: Bulgaria third in the EU on smokingby Stefan Nikolov, news.bg, 3/9/2009; Half of Pregnant Women in Bulgaria Active Smokers, Sofia News Agency - novinite.com, 3/9/2009.