Greece ramps up anti-smoking efforts

A decade after the introduction of a general ban on smoking in enclosed public places in Greece, the country still lags behind other nations in the effort to restrict the addictive habit, the Hellenic Cancer Society (HCS) said on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2019 on Friday.

In a press statement, the HCS calls for immediate action to reduce the number of smokers in Greece, stressing that smoking remains one of the greatest threats to human health.

According to a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year.

In Greece particularly, more than 15,000 people die every year of smoking-related causes, while they spend between 25 million and 30 million euros annually on cigarettes, according to a study presented recently by the HCS.

Greek experts underline that in Europe, the lung cancer...