Netherlands National Drug Monitor - Research and Documentation ...

• For low socio-economic status groups, the following smoking cessation measures have
proven effective or may be effective: free support, telephone counselling, smoking
cessation support in the workplace, mass media campaigns, school programmes and
measures targeting pregnant women (Tariq et al., 2009).
Of a different scale altogether is the demand made on the health care system due to
conditions caused or exacerbated by smoking.
• For 2005 it is estimated that approximately 90,000 clinical hospital admissions of people
aged 35 and older were due to smoking-related illnesses (Cruts et al., 2008a).
• This amounts to around 7.5% of the total number of hospital admissions in this age
group.
• Cancer of the respiratory tract, coronary disease and COPD are the most frequently
cited reasons for hospitalisation.
8.6 Illness and deaths
Illnesses
Smoking is linked to cardio-vascular illnesses, lung diseases and cancer.
• Table 8.5 shows that lung cancer, COPD, oesophageal, laryngeal, and oral cancer are
caused overwhelmingly by smoking. In 2007 91% of lung cancer cases among men
and 73% among women were caused by smoking.
• Research conducted by the University of Maastricht and GGD Zuid-Limburg found
that the decline in under-age smoking (see § 7.3) may prevent large numbers of
smoking-related disease in the future (Gielkens-Sijstermans et al., 2009). In 1996,
22% of second-grade students in secondary school (average age 13) in the southeast
of the Netherlands were current smokers. By 2005 this had declined to 8%.
Assuming that these youngsters do not take up smoking at a later age, it was calculated
that the thirteen-year olds in 2005 would have an estimated 11,500 fewer cases
of COPD, 3,400 fewer cases of lung cancer and 1,800 fewer heart attacks at a later
age compared to the 1996 cohort.
• Clear indications have emerged that smoking increases the risk of dementia (Reitz et
al., 2007).
• Research in the Dutch male population has shown that an average smoker has a
reduced life expectancy almost seven years and a heavy smoker of almost nine years.
Furthermore, smoking cigarettes causes almost six years of illness (Streppel et al.,
2007).
• A recent study has found that smoking is the single greatest cause of death among
the many avoidable risks that affect people’s health (Danaei et al., 2009).
• Passive smoking can also cause a variety of illnesses.
- People who do not smoke themselves, but are regularly exposed to environmental
tobacco smoke (ETS) from a smoking partner have an increased risk of developing
lung cancer. In the case of passive smoking women, the increased risk is 20% and
8 Tobacco
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