Health improvement in Poland is contingent on continued extensive tobacco control measures

Tobacco smoking is a major avoidable single cause of premature mortality in Poland. Almost one in three Polish males do not live to 65 years of age, and almost half of this premature mortality can be traced back to the much higher smoking prevalence in Poland than in Western Europe – every third Polish male and every fourth Polish female smokes daily. However, the current health situation in Poland is much better than two decades ago when the country entered a period of political and economic upheaval. In the early 1990s, the state of health of the Polish population was catastrophic and its tobacco consumption levels the highest in the world. In the early 1990s, the probability of a 15-year-old Polish boy living to the age of 60 was not just twice lower than in Western Europe, but also lower than in China or India. The health policy of limiting the health consequences of smoking conducted by the European Union and, in the last two decades, by the Polish parliament and government, helped to stop this health catastrophe. In Poland, cigarette consumption has decreased by 30% since 1990, as did lung cancer mortality among males. Despite this progress, tobacco smoking remains the most serious health problem in Poland. Therefore, comprehensive tobacco control policy should not only be continued, but expanded and accelerated. The EU Tobacco Products Directive proposes a package of actions for reducing tobacco-related health harm in Europe. The Directive proposal is rational, science-and-evidence based, and grounded on the best practice examples from other countries. Both the Polish tobacco control law and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ratified by Poland in 2006, oblige our country to support tobacco control, including all the initiatives taken by the European Union

Zawartość substancji smolistych w papierosach sprzedawanych w Polsce w latach 1983–2000

The content of tar in cigarettes sold in Poland in the years 1983–2000Cigarette smoke contains over forty carcinogenic compounds, including tar that is evaluated as carcinogen A for human beings. The World Health Organization recommends reduction of carcinogenic and toxic substances in cigarettes as one of the elements in cancer control programs and tobacco control policies. In the beginning of 1990s, the Polish norm for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide was first time enforced in Poland. This paper makes an attempt to collect available data on the content of tar in cigarettes sold in Polish market between 1983 and 2000, analyze time trends for average tar content in these cigarettes, compare Polish data with study results from Unites States, Finland and other Central and Eastern European countries, and evaluate whether tobacco product control measures that have been enforced at that time contributed to reduction of tar in cigarettes sold in Poland and what was its potential impact on time trends in lung cancer mortality in the last decades

Stosunek Polaków do wprowadzenia całkowitego zakazu palenia we wszystkich miejscach publicznych

Attitude of Poles toward enforcement of complete smoking ban in all public placesWHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends enforcement of strong smoke-free policy in public places and worksites. Many countries of European Union, cities and states of the Unites States of America, Canadian provinces and other countries worldwide have been effectively enforced comprehensive ban of smoking in public places and worksites. Follow up studies show health and social benefits of the smoke-free policy. However, its effective enforcement requires public support. This paper analyzes results of the 2006 nation-wide randomized survey on attitudes toward complete ban of smoking in public places and worksites in Poland. In Poland, public support for the enforcement of smoke-free legislation (76%), even very restrictive, belongs to the highest in European Union countries. Its effective enforcement is crucial for improvement of public health in Poland since over 8,700 deaths (including almost 2,000 deaths among non-smokers) in Poland are caused by passive exposure to tobacco smok

Time trends in tobacco-attributable cancer mortality in Poland — direct estimation method

<strong>Introduction. </strong>Since the 20th century tobacco smoking has had an enormous impact on morbidity and mortality in the adult population, and it remains the greatest single preventable health risk factor worldwide. Cancer is the se­cond leading cause of death in Poland, with lung cancer as the primary cause of cancer-related death in Polish men and women. Given these statistics, this manuscript aims to estimate tobacco-attributable cancer mortality in Poland.<strong>Material and methods. </strong>Data on cancer mortality come from the WHO Mortality Statistics database. Data on smoking prevalence in Poland come from standardized surveys based on nationally representative samples. Data on relative risks come from the Cancer Prevention Study II. Tobacco-attributable fractions were calculated using standard me­thodology for calculating population-based attributable fractions.<strong>Results. </strong>In 2014, there were over 24 thousand tobacco-attributed cancer deaths in men. Lung cancer tops the list of ranked cancer types, with a tobacco-attributable fraction of 93%. Next is laryngeal (TAF = 90%), oropharyngeal (TAF = 86%) and esophageal (TAF = 80%) cancer. Overall, two-thirds of the considered cancer deaths were attributed to tobacco smoke (TAF = 75%). In 2014, there were over 7.5 thousand of cancer deaths related to smoking in women. Here, both laryngeal and lung cancer (both TAF = 76%) top the ranked list. Next are esophageal (TAF = 61%) and oropharyngeal (TAF = 51%) cancers, and when combined almost half of all considered cancer deaths were attributed to tobacco smoke (TAF = 44%).<strong>Conclusions.</strong> Tobacco smoking and tobacco-attributable cancer mortality remain one of the greatest health burdens in Poles. Each year over 30 thousand Polish men and women die of cancer caused by smoking. All these deaths could be avoided

Trendy codziennego palenia papierosów w Polsce w populacji kobiet w wieku prokreacyjnym w latach 1974–2004

Trends in daily cigarette smoking among women at childbearing age, Poland 1974–2004This paper analyzes changes in daily smoking among Polish women at childbearing age (15–49). The analysis is based on nation-wide  randomized surveys of adult Polish population (aged 15+) from 1974–2004. Study results show rapid increase of daily smoking rates in women at childbearing age from around 22% to 39% between 1974 and 1982. Since then, daily smoking has constantly decreased in this population (to around 30% in 2000–2004). The analysis also showed that in 1974 daily smoking rates in high educated women were much higher (20%) than in low educated women (13%). Today, the highest rates of daily smoking are observed in low educated women (32%) and the  lowest in high educated women (21%). It was caused by biggest decline in daily smoking in higher educated women as compared with lower educated women. Above changes create new challenges in tobacco control and require new strategy in smoking prevention programs addressed to women population

Estimating of the number of cancer cases attributed to HPV infections for Poland in 2015

Introduction. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for almost all cervical cancers, for an important fraction of other anogenital cancers (anus, vulva, vagina and penis), but also for some head and neck cancer cases. Material and method. Data on cancer incidence for Poland in 2015 were taken from the database of Polish National Cancer Registry (http://onkologia.org.pl). Attributable fractions (AFs) for all HPV-associated cancer sites were derived from published study. The number of cancer cases attributable to HPV infections was calculated by multiplying the number of registered new cancer cases by the given AF for all HPV-associated cancer sites. Results. Of all newly registered cancer cases for Poland in the analysed year, 4080 were estimated to be attributable to HPV infections. The vast majority of these cases — 3300, were diagnosed in women, 780 in men. Cancer cases attributed to HPV represent 44% of all cancers related to HPV and 2.5% of all malignant neoplasms registered in Poland in 2015. Conclusions. The fraction of cancers attributable to HPV infections is highly dominated by cervical cancer. Effective control of this cancer site should combine increasing awareness of threats related to HPV infections, improving access to HPV vaccination (primary prevention) by introduction of financing from public funds, and increasing access to secondary prevention in both forms — cytological and HPV testing. Introduction of an HPV vaccination population program in Poland should be a priority in strategy of cancer control

Palenie tytoniu a umieralność na choroby odtytoniowe w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej

Tobacco smoking and smoking-attributable mortality in Central and Eastern EuropeTobacco is the major determinant of the health gap between the east (EU10) and the west part (EU15) of European Union. Over half of the excess mortality among middle-aged men in the EU10 countries might have been avoided if the tobacco consumption of these men had been the same as that of equivalent men in the EU15. The role of tobacco in shaping mortality differences between the EU10 and EU15 countries in women is less prominent than in men. Nevertheless, about one fourth of the excess mortality among middle-aged women in EU10 countries can be attributed to their higher tobacco consumption. 41% of male deaths between 35 and 64 years were attributable to tobacco smoking in the EU10 countries compared with 33% in the EU15 countries. The figures for women were 17% in the EU10 and 14% in the EU15 countries. It is worth emphasizing that, in some EU10 countries, the tobacco control policies and programmes have already produced notable results on tobacco- attributable mortality, in particular among men

Time trends in tobacco-attributable cancer mortality in Poland — direct estimation method

Introduction. Since the 20th century tobacco smoking has had an enormous impact on morbidity and mortality in the adult population, and it remains the greatest single preventable health risk factor worldwide. Cancer is the se­cond leading cause of death in Poland, with lung cancer as the primary cause of cancer-related death in Polish men and women. Given these statistics, this manuscript aims to estimate tobacco-attributable cancer mortality in Poland. Material and methods. Data on cancer mortality come from the WHO Mortality Statistics database. Data on smoking prevalence in Poland come from standardized surveys based on nationally representative samples. Data on relative risks come from the Cancer Prevention Study II. Tobacco-attributable fractions were calculated using standard me­thodology for calculating population-based attributable fractions. Results. In 2014, there were over 24 thousand tobacco-attributed cancer deaths in men. Lung cancer tops the list of ranked cancer types, with a tobacco-attributable fraction of 93%. Next is laryngeal (TAF = 90%), oropharyngeal (TAF = 86%) and esophageal (TAF = 80%) cancer. Overall, two-thirds of the considered cancer deaths were attributed to tobacco smoke (TAF = 75%). In 2014, there were over 7.5 thousand of cancer deaths related to smoking in women. Here, both laryngeal and lung cancer (both TAF = 76%) top the ranked list. Next are esophageal (TAF = 61%) and oropharyngeal (TAF = 51%) cancers, and when combined almost half of all considered cancer deaths were attributed to tobacco smoke (TAF = 44%). Conclusions. Tobacco smoking and tobacco-attributable cancer mortality remain one of the greatest health burdens in Poles. Each year over 30 thousand Polish men and women die of cancer caused by smoking. All these deaths could be avoided

Palenie tytoniu w populacji mężczyzn i kobiet w Polsce w latach 1974–2004

Tobacco smoking in male and female population, Poland 1974–2004On the basis of nation-wide randomized surveys, this paper analyzes patterns and trends of smoking prevalence in Polish adult (20+) population. In 1974, 62% of adult men and 19% of women smoked daily. In 1982, smoking rates reached the highest level ever observed in Poland (among Poles aged 20–39, 70-80% of men and  0-50% of women smoked daily). Percent of former smokers was low (15% for men, 6% for women). There was also big gender difference in prevalence of never smoking (15% in men, 70% in women). In the past two decades, substantial decline in smoking prevalence is observed. In men, decline in smoking rates (43% of daily smokers in 2000–2004), contributed to decrease in lung cancer mortality. In women, smoking rates have not changed since the mid-1980s and did not led to decrease in lung cancer mortality, however, there are three different age-specific time trends in smoking prevalence in female population