A grim picture: the report on smoking in Israel for 2022 has been published

The report on smoking in Israel for the year 2022, submitted to the Knesset in accordance with the mandatory reporting law regarding the health damages caused by smoking tobacco products, presents the current picture of the smoking epidemic in Israel. The report aims to raise the issue to the public agenda and emphasize the need to combat the phenomenon of smoking and its severe damages.

Hard findings

Reducing the phenomenon of smoking and its harm is one of the most important national tasks in the field of public health, where the Ministry of Health is committed to the fight against smoking and its consequences. It is estimated that in Israel the percentage of smokers is over 20% of the adult population, and that smoking is the cause of approximately 8,000 deaths per year, approximately 10% of which are among non-smokers who were exposed to the smoke of others (forced smoking), as a result of malignant diseases, heart diseases and blood vessels, including stroke, respiratory diseases, diabetes and more.

In the world every year about 8 million people die as a result of smoking, and half of all smokers are expected to get sick and die from a disease caused by smoking. The Ministry of Health reminds - the best way to stop smoking is not to start at all.

Action plan for all tobacco products

A few weeks ago, the Ministry of Health published for public comments, an action plan for all tobacco and smoking products, including cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. The outline is based on the recommendations of a national action team that was initiated and led by the Ministry of Health and included many partners including government ministries, associations, local government, representatives of parents and youth. The team worked in four sub-teams - policy, enforcement, advocacy, training and influence, with the aim of formulating a national action plan to eradicate smoking with an emphasis on electronic cigarettes.

The outline includes recommendations for many changes

The outline that was formulated is comprehensive and includes recommendations for making extensive regulatory changes regarding content, appearance, sale and taxation:

• Determining a ban on flavors, giving powers to the Ministry of Health to enforce the nicotine concentration limit that exists today in legislation and limiting the volume of filler liquid allowed for import, marketing and sale.
• Applying graphic warnings to all tobacco and smoking products and applying visual uniformity to smoking and vaping products.
• Ban on the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes, Selling tobacco and smoking products only in designated stores and reducing the number of points of sale, raising the selling age to 21 and giving the Ministry of Health the authority to enforce a ban on internet advertising.
• Comparing taxation on electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products, applying taxation to nicotine intended for non-medical use and applying taxation to the device itself.

The full outline is published on the website of the Ministry of Health.

The annual report

The annual report provides data on the smoking epidemic among the adult population in Israel, data on smoking among the youth and IDF soldiers, a comprehensive overview of prevention activities and the many efforts invested in them, shared by the ministries of health, education and finance, the IDF, health insurance funds, civil society organizations and bodies many more. In addition, the report presents an overview of legislative and enforcement activity in the field of smoking, of smoking cessation in Israel and various economic data in relation to smoking, including the state's revenues from taxes on tobacco and more.

The Ministry of Health is leading the fight against smoking and its harm

Together with other partners in the Ministries of Education, Finance and the Interior, in the local authorities, in the IDF, in civil society and academia, they are all involved in moves to promote the fight against smoking in Israel, mainly in the area of ​​advertising and marketing restrictions, business licensing and taxation policy, in gathering information, research and in an effort to deal with the penetration of cigarettes Electronics and their spread among the youth.

Moshe Arbel, Minister of Health, says:

The concern for public health is constantly in front of our eyes when we act in different ways to deal with the phenomenon of smoking and its damages. We have a lot to do to reduce the number of smokers in the population on the one hand, and to prevent new ones from joining the circle of smokers on the other hand. The fight requires a complex and joint effort, and we are committed to implementing the policy in a variety of areas of prevention and encouraging quitting, in order to promote public health - young and old alike - from smoking and its harm.

The data presented in the smoking report constitute for us another important compass for correcting and improving and raising awareness of the phenomenon of smoking. The proportion of children, teenagers, young people and adults who are exposed to the smoking of others in their environment is very high and we must continue to work to eradicate this phenomenon. On this occasion, I call on all smokers to contact and help They are entitled to the professional help to quit smoking, free of charge, as part of the basket of health services through the national call center for quitting smoking of the Ministry of Health, and in the health insurance funds.

Moshe Bar Siman Tov, Director General of the Ministry of Health, says:

All smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, are a real threat to the health of children, teenagers and adults alike. In view of the extent of the spread of the phenomenon, the Ministry has examined all possible measures and will continue with extensive actions to raise awareness of the growing phenomenon of smoking, the dangers of using these products and the damages of smoking products, in particular electronic cigarettes, which have become frequently used among teenagers and young adults.

In the published outline, we recommended taking strict policies and dramatic measures that are required by the necessity of reality, when it is clear to all of us that the best way to stop smoking is not to start smoking. We also call on parents to recognize the threat and talk to their children about the issue, thus reducing the future damage that may harm them.

Dr. Sharon Elrai Price, head of the public health division, says: 

The smoking epidemic is one of the most significant threats to public health. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death.

The entry of electronic cigarettes into the market significantly worsened the problem. These products themselves are dangerous to health and have already charged prices in Israel and around the world. But in addition they serve as a gateway to smoking regular cigarettes. The availability and ease of using them today make them attractive among children and teenagers and the result: a jump in their use among children of younger and younger ages. Beyond the rising phenomenon of smoking among the youth, we are troubled by the phenomenon of forced smoking in the public space. The American Center for Disease Control points out that there is no risk-free level of second-hand smoke and even short exposure can cause serious health problems among non-smokers.

The responsibility for dealing with the phenomenon is shared and in light of the surge in the use of electronic cigarettes among teenagers, it is important that we state clearly - there is no safe smoking product, let's take care of our children and prevent them from entering a cycle of addiction that will harm them and those around them.

Below are the main points of the report:

• 64.5% of adults and 33% of children who do not smoke are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, that is, experience forced smoking, according to a monitoring to measure exposure to smoking conducted among children and adults as part of the national program for biological monitoring in Israel.
• An increase in the overall percentage of students who smoke cigarettes at least once a week: 3% of children in grades 10-30 and 2% of teenagers in grades 3 report smoking electronic cigarettes at least six days during the last 4.8 days. This is shown by the data of the special survey for youth, HBSC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Bar Ilan University, and a national survey (KAP). In addition, according to the interim data of the HBSC survey findings, the use of cigarettes at least once a day has doubled in 2019 years: from 9% in 2022 to XNUMX% in XNUMX.
• In 2022, 10,115 reports and fines were issued for smoking in public spaces, compared to 8,189 reports and fines in 2021. 81 local authorities reported on the extent of enforcement carried out, with the leading authorities in issuing fines in 2022 being the municipalities of Jerusalem (2,907), Tel Aviv-Yafo (2,007), Beer Sheva (1,438), Ramat Gan (868) and Petah Tikva (786).
• The state's receipts from purchase taxes on all tobacco products in 2022 were approximately NIS 7.5 billion. The state's revenues from purchase taxes on imported cigarettes were about NIS 6.348 billion, and about NIS 448 million on locally produced cigarettes. Purchase taxes on other tobacco products (smoking tobacco, hookah tobacco, pipe tobacco, cigars, heating tobacco units) added another NIS 727.5 million, according to the Tax Authority data.
• In May 2022, the Knesset Plenum approved a bill banning advertising and restricting the marketing of tobacco and smoking products, so that the advertising of tobacco and smoking products in the printed press will be prohibited, and thus the exclusion of the printed press from the scope of the total ban on the advertising of these products will be gradually abolished until the year 2029.
• About 330,000 smokers, women and men, have applied for assistance in quitting smoking, since the introduction of the detoxification workshops and the pharmaceutical response to smoking cessation in the basket of health services in 2010 until the end of 2022. The annual number of applicants for assistance in quitting smoking at the health insurance funds is only around 2.5% of the total number of active smokers.

The national hotline for smoking cessation: *6800.

The full report is published on the ministry's website.

A response to the smoking report of the Ministry of Health - the Association for the War on Cancer

The Cancer Society responded: 
"The smoking situation in Israel is extremely alarming. It is an epidemic that claims the lives of 154 Israelis every week. Lowering smoking rates and reducing its harm is not only the responsibility of the Minister of Health, but we must join forces and address the problem from the root through a budgeted national plan that will prioritize the fight against the cause The world's number one preventable death.'

"A unit should be established to combat smoking"

"A parallel action must be taken to establish a unit to combat smoking in the Ministry of Health that will lead to the implementation of the policy, while providing an answer to the existing enforcement problems. We at the Cancer War Association have been fighting for years thanks to the public's donations and send dozens of informational guides to hold trainings on the harms of smoking in educational institutions and conduct extensive informational campaigns for teenagers on social media against the use of smoking products. But in the face of the great forces of the tobacco and nicotine companies, a national mobilization is required. Smoking causes various types of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis."

International Prostate Cancer Day

And in the meantime it became known that this coming weekend (15.9/2,800) the international day for the fight against prostate cancer will be celebrated in Israel and around the world. In preparation for this day, the Cancer Society published new assessment data indicating that approximately 2022 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 540 and approximately XNUMX died from the disease. The association emphasized that avoiding smoking along with maintaining a healthy lifestyle has a dramatic effect on reducing the risk of developing prostate cancer. 

Moshe Bar-Haim, The CEO of the Cancer Society explained:

 It is important to act actively to reduce the risk of getting sick in the first place. A healthy lifestyle should be adopted, which includes avoiding smoking, a balanced diet, which includes vegetables and fruits. It is essential to reduce processed food and prefer drinking water instead of sugary drinks. At the same time, perform daily physical activity and maintain a normal body weight. All of these can significantly help reduce the risk of getting prostate cancer.