title: Results from the Albanian Adult Tobacco Survey.
abstract: Tobacco use prevalence in Europe is characterized by large disparities, with Western nations reporting smoking rates generally below 25%, while Eastern nations have smoking rates usually above 30%. Albania provides a distressing case study for Eastern Europe in which the exposure to the West after the fall of the communist regime dramatically increased the availability of Western-type cigarettes, while adoption of counterbalancing tobacco control measures lagged far behind. Results based on the representative Albanian Adult Tobacco Survey (AATS) conducted in 2007 suggest that smoking is a major problem, with a 64% smoking prevalence among Albanian men. It is becoming an increasingly greater concern among women, whose smoking prevalence more than doubled since 1990, reaching 19% in 2007. Young women living in urban areas are particularly susceptible to tobacco use; about one-third of them reported that they smoke. About 85% of current smokers smoke daily and with very high intensity, which further increases their risk of dying of smoking-attributable diseases. Smoking and secondhand exposure kill about 3,800 Albanians per year, about one-fifth of all deaths in the country. In addition, tobacco use imposes opportunity costs on Albanian households, which spent $358.6 million on cigarettes in 2007, or about 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP). To reduce the health and economic burden caused by tobacco use, the Albanian government should implement and enforce evidence-based tobacco control policies such increasing cigarette taxes; promoting cessation, particularly via the health care system; and enacting stricter clean indoor air laws.
authors.affiliation: International Tobacco Control Research, American Cancer Society, 250 Williams St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. hana.ross@cancer.org
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zaloshnja
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Dhimiter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tole
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000415:Albania / Q000453:epidemiology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012424:Rural Population; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011049:Social Control Policies; D012940:Social Problems; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution