Thousands of Finns quit their smoking habits this year directly due to coronavirus problems, according to a study commissioned by the tobacco policy and public health group ASH Finland.
The study found that 15 percent of respondents quit smoking because of health problems directly related to the coronavirus. According to the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and other health authorities, a smoker increases the risk of health problems caused by a coronavirus infection.
ASH Finland estimates that 5,000-18,000 people in Finland quit smoking directly due to coronavirus health problems. The broad estimate was due to a relatively large margin of error, according to the organization.
According to a group study, the epidemic caused 11 percent of smokers to try to quit smoking, while 15 percent tried to smoke less than before the epidemic began.
About 84 percent of those who quit smoking reported doing so for health reasons, compared with 73 percent of people who quit in 2018 in a similar study.
On the way out
In this year’s survey, 65 percent said they quit for financial reasons and more than half said smoking was a completely useless habit.
According to ASH Finland, about 10 per cent of the Finnish population smokes tobacco, one per cent uses electronic cigarettes and four per cent use an oral tobacco product.
Just over 2,300 people aged 18-79 responded to a survey conducted on 22-24 September 2020, with a margin of error of 2.2% in each direction.
Tobacco use in Finland has been steadily declining for several decades, and this trend continues, according to the organization, which stated that Finland was once the most hungry country in the world for tobacco.
In the 1940s, three-quarters of all adult men in the country smoked. But thanks to health campaigns and legislation, tobacco use has declined since the 1960s. Finland has set a target that less than five percent of the population will use tobacco or nicotine products by 2030.