Smoking down by 16-17 percent in Russia

Russians are smoking less because of the implementation of an anti-tobacco law, according to an Interfax report quoting the Rospotrebnadzor press service.

‘The measures taken to implement Russian legislation on public health protection from the impact of tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco smoking have helped reduce tobacco consumption by 16-17 percent,’ the press service was quoted as saying. There was no indication in the version of the report that TR saw of when the decline in consumption occurred.

Nevertheless, Rospotrebnadzor said the implementation of the anti-tobacco law had helped make ‘a significant contribution to the reduction of the death rate from illnesses associated with tobacco consumption such as cardio-vascular illnesses, lung diseases, and cancer’.