[Intl-tobacco] South Africans quit smoking by the millions

[Robert Weissman]

*http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=3DST6A157464

Sunday Times, South Africa
*

South Africans quit smoking by the millions

Soaring cigarette prices and government-imposed curbs explain a huge
decline in number of puffers

CLAIRE KEETON

11 December 2005

SOUTH Africans are kicking the nicotine habit in droves, with the
proportion of adult smokers dropping by a third =97 from 32% to 24% =97 in =
a
decade.

The latest research on tobacco consumption and control by University of
Cape Town economist Dr Corn=E9 van Walbeek found that soaring cigarette
prices explained most of the decrease.

=93A number of groups have been very responsive to the changes and cut
their consumption a lot =97 the poor, youth and black South Africans.=94

Van Walbeek added that the government=92s tobacco control policy since the
1990s had successfully discouraged smoking.

 From 1993 to 2003 the prevalence of smoking fell among:

=95Households earning R500 to R899 a month from 31% to 20%;

=95Men from 52% to 39%;

=95Young people aged 16 to 24 from 24% to 17%; and

=95Africans from 28% to 20%.

The white population was the only group that remained static at 36%.
Smoking prevalence among the coloured population fell from 51% to 44%
and among Indians from 32% to 29%.

Whites smoke on average the highest number of cigarettes at 17 a day =97
almost three times the average of six cigarettes consumed a day by
African smokers.

Van Walbeek wrote in his PhD thesis that =93the high smoking intensity of
whites is not unexpected given the fact that their average income is so
much higher than any other race group=94.

His analysis of smoking trends =97 based on the All Media and Products
Survey data =97 demonstrates that those earning less have been hardest hit
by price increases.

Van Walbeek said that in 1993 most income groups had similar smoking rates.

=93However, by 2003 the picture had changed dramatically.

=93Smoking prevalence among poorer households was much lower than among
more affluent households,=94 he found =97 suggesting that smoking has
shifted towards being a =93high- income group=94 pastime.

The smoking patterns from province to province, and urban versus rural
settlements, reinforce this.

=93The highest smoking prevalence is found in the more affluent provinces.=
=94

The Western Cape, for example, had a 38% smoking prevalence in 2003
compared with 12% in Limpopo, which is poor.

Smoking is much more common in urban areas than rural areas =97 about 29%
compared with 18% in 2003.

Male smoking prevalence fell by 13% and female prevalence by a mere 3%.
This confirms research by Dr Lekan Ayo-Yusuf of the School of Dentistry
at Pretoria University.

He said the rate of decline of smoking among women from 1994 to 2004 was
less than half that among men.

Yusuf warned: =93It is conceivable that the total tobacco- related health
burden on the female population will increase if appropriate steps are
not taken to curb these trends.=94

Mercia Axon, the owner of Smokenders in South Africa, said it seemed to
be harder for women to break the emotional addiction to smoking.

=93Most smokers start at 20 or younger, usually to take the edge off their
emotional needs, and smoking becomes a support system. Women are usually
more emotional and men are accustomed to having a stiff upper lip.=94

Axon said the law had had a significant effect in reducing smoking.

=93Employers have been happy to ban smoking from the office and
increasingly people are coming to us saying they feel like outcasts.=94

A street poll in Johannesburg showed mostly support for the country=92s
smoking policy.

Smoking on the pavement in Rosebank, Johannesburg, banker Shaune May,
30, said: =93It is good for non-smokers that we smoke in the open air.=94

But Rachel Scherf, 37, said: =93I=92m in two minds about whether there is
too much control over smoking.=94

Kedibone Bonoko, who works in a restaurant and smokes five a day, said
it was better that there were separate areas for smokers and non-smokers.