There is no doubt that the best way to tackle smoking and to get people to give up or not start at all is price, said Health Division director Ray Busuttil yesterday during a press conference to announce the winners of the Quit and Win competition.

Answering questions put by this newspaper, Dr Busuttil said that price was definitely the most effective manner in which to curb smoking. He acknowledged the fact that the tobacco industry had permeated through to various levels of the economy in many countries, including Malta.

“The fact that pricing is effective has been proven time and time again. But one must bear in mind that cigarettes make up the basket of products that is used to calculate inflation. If one were to hike the price up all at one go, then it would have a substantial effect on inflation, so the equation is not that simple,” said Dr Busuttil.

He said it was not the Health Division’s responsibility to increase the price of cigarettes, but it always lobbies for a higher price and indeed welcomes price increases. This of course, has to be taken into the context of government tax revenues, highlighting the point made in the question. Dr Busuttil said that in the past, the Maltese people were used to tobacco products increasing in price almost yearly, noting that it has indeed been some years since they have gone up.

“At the end of the day, people’s health is important and that is the message we want to get across,” said Dr Busuttil, himself being a former smoker.

Dr Busuttil also said that the Health Division and health inspectors were currently in discussion with the police in order to better focus efforts to enforce the smoking ban law in Malta. He said that compliance with the law was on the whole excellent in places such as restaurants, public buildings, offices and the like. However, he conceded that the same could not be said about discos, bars and political or band clubs. “At present, the law is flouted and yes, we do need to better focus our efforts to catch and fine the people who act in breach of this law. This does not mean we do not get results, as several offenders and bar owners have been successfully prosecuted,” he said.

Dr Busuttil also confirmed that the Health Division was looking into the possibility of introducing graphic and, shall we say not-too-pleasant images of smoking-related illness and what smoking can do to people’s organs.

He also recalled that Malta has passed legislation to stop the advertising of tobacco and that this country was the second after Norway to adopt the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, effectively banning any forms of advertising since 2005.

However, more needs to be done with 25 per cent of the Maltese population being smokers. There has also been an increase in the number of young people smoking. Between 2001 and 2002, some 37.6 per cent of 15-year-old males had smoked while 40.1 per cent of females had also tried smoking. In 2006, these figures jumped up to 40.2 and 45 per cent respectively. Dr Busuttil said this reflected a trend whereby older smokers either die or give up, pointing out that some 5.4 million people die each year throughout the world due to smoking-related diseases – one person every six seconds. This also means that 10 per cent of yearly deaths are smoking-related.

He said that in 2006, 274 Maltese men died due to the effects of smoking while 107 women also died: “That works out to more than one person every day.” He said that tobacco giants always needed new customers to replace the ones who, for whatever reason, are no longer available. He also said that they aggressively market cigarettes to younger people in countries where it is allowed, thereby keeping the wheel turning.

It is not a lost cause though. Dr Busuttil explained that more and more older people are choosing to give up and that the Quit and Win campaign offers them an incentive to do so. “People are becoming more aware of the consequences, but we really have to focus our efforts on trying to stop people from starting in the first place. We really need people to have the self-discipline to say no right from the start,” he said.

The winners of this year’s competition all said that the competition was a very good incentive to helping them quit; however the major factors that pushed them to stop smoking were the welfare of their children (and their attitude towards smoking) and the very real health risks that come with smoking.