BUDAPEST, May 31 (Xinhua) -- In Hungary, the proportion of regular smokers has decreased among men, while the number of female smokers has increased in recent years, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported on Monday, the World No Tobacco Day.
"In Hungary, the proportion of female smokers in the population increased from 22.3 percent to 23.9 percent between 2014 and 2019, while the proportion of male smokers decreased from 36.08 percent to 30 percent since 2009," MTI said, quoting a report issued by the Oncopulmonological Section of the Hungarian Respiratory Society (MTTOSZ).
"This trend is worrying as it goes hand in hand with the number of people newly diagnosed with lung cancer," the society said.
The report warned: "According to the Central Statistical Office (KSH), between 2010 and 2016, almost 40 percent more new lung cancer cases were recorded among women while the increase among men was around 15 percent."
Lung cancer is an extremely aggressive disease. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Hungary, with less than 20 out of a hundred people surviving five years after their first diagnosis, according to the MTTOSZ.
Experience has shown that extending screening programs and modern treatments can dramatically improve patients' chances of living longer, fuller lives, but the most effective solution is still to quit smoking, said the report.
"Smokers live on average seven years less than non-smokers," Krisztina Bogos, head of the MTTOSZ, said, stressing that the electronic cigarettes or heated tobacco products are also harmful to the lungs and the cardiovascular system, and have not been proven to be less carcinogenic.
In Hungary, like in most other European Union member states, smoking is prohibited in all closed public areas, restaurants and bars, and even in outdoors locations like bus stops.
Tobacco advertising is also prohibited, and tobacco products are sold only in special shops, where sales to minors are prohibited. Enditem
