Page 6 - TAIWAN TOBACCO CONTROL ANNUAL REPORT 2019

From the Director-General Director Genneral Health Promotion Administration, 2019 4 Adult Smoking Rate Fell by 40% in a Decade After the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act Amended According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 8 million deaths each year resulting from tobacco smoking, of which more than 7 million are smokers, and about 1.2 million are non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke. On average, every 4 seconds one person dies due to tobacco harmful effect. In 2019, the Amended Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act has been implemented for a decade, and Taiwan's adult smoking rate fell from 21.9% in 2008 to 13.0% in 2018, with a significant drop of 40%. For the junior high school students, youth smoking rate fell from 7.8% in 2008 to 2.8% in 2018, with a percentage drop of more than 50%. The secondhand tobacco smoke exposure dropped from 23.7% in 2008 to 5.4% in 2018 for non-smoking areas, and dropped from 27.8% in 2008 to 3.6% in 2018 for indoor public spaces, maintaining more than 90% smoke-free environments. This implies that Taiwan has promoted tobacco hazards prevention in accordance with the "The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control". Tobacco hazards can be slightly controlled in Taiwan by measures such as raising surcharges for tobacco products, expanding the non-smoking areas, increase graphic warning size for tobacco package, regulations on the display of tobacco products, and restrictions on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Noved and Emerging Tobacco Products Jeopardizing Adolescent Health Emerging tobacco products such as e-cigarettes have become a major challenge for tobacco hazards prevention in various countries. According to the US National Youth Tobacco Survey in 2018, e-cigarette smoking rate of senior high school students soared from 1.5% in 2011 to 20.8% in 2018, which means 1 in 5 US senior high school students smoked e-cigarettes. Taiwan's 2018 Global Youth Tobacco Survey showed that e-cigarette smoking rate of junior and senior high school students were 1.9% and 3.4% respectively, with an estimate of more than 38 thousand youths on e-cigarette smoking. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine and are addictive, with also risks including explosion and carcinogenesis. However, in recent years, there are no clear regulations