Hungary falling behind rivals in CEE smoking league

Of the four Visegrád countries - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia - Hungary has the highest number of smokers. The country also ranks lowest for kicking the habit, writes daily Népszabadság, based on a recent survey by Tárki and Image Factory.

Of the Hungarian population, 36% smoke. The rate of smokers is higher among the uneducated and lower among those who hold a higher education degree.

Quitting is very difficult for Hungarians, based on the survey. While earlier, the number of smokers in Poland and the Czech Republic was the same as in Hungary, a much larger number of people have quit since then.

Hungarians not only lead the list of the four countries in the number of smokers but also in intensity of smoking. Of Hungarian smokers, 29% smoke more than a pack a day, which means every tenth citizen counts as a heavy smoker.

The majority of Hungarians would make smoking regulations stricter, but their number is still lower than Poles and Slovaks who support banning smoking in public spaces. A low number of Hungarians believe that these measures can be effective in solving national health problems.

The most supported idea among citizens of the four countries is to prohibit smoking on public transport, while fewer people agree that it should be outlawed in the street and all public places. Hungarians do come out in support for a ban on smoking in restaurants; four out of five of those asked agreed with the idea. Fewer people would agree with a smoking ban in cafés and bars.

Every third Hungarian - and four out of ten Poles and Slovaks - agree with a smoking ban in the street and all public places. On public transport, such as trains, 86% of Hungarians would ban smoking, but a lower number of people than in the other three countries feel the same way about workplaces, bus and railway stations and airports.

Hungarians are the most pessimistic when it comes to believing that a ban would help smokers quit. Respondents believe a ban would only be effective against casual smokers. Three quarters of those asked think that if smoking is banned at restaurants, smokers will "escape" to the street and smoke outside the entrance. Every third Hungarian believes that within a year or two, a smoking ban will be in effect at restaurants in Hungary.

Researchers say that at least 2,300 people die of passive smoking in Hungary each year, including 1,100 who never smoked.

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