One Third Of Argentine Doctors, Nurses Smoke
Around 36% of Argentine doctors and nurses smoke, according to a report released last month by the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation.
That makes the percentage of healthcare professionals who smoke higher than that of the general population in Argentina, where about 35% of males and 25% of females toke the cancer stick.
It also ranks Argentina among the countries whose doctors and nurses lead the world in smoking, according to the latest edition of the Tobacco Atlas. Germany’s healthcare professionals lead the pack with a stunning 52% of them smoking. However, male Albanian medical students win the gold prize given that 65% of them smoke.
In the U.S. just 4% of healthcare professional smoke while the figure is 17% in Brazil and 41% in Bolivia.
In general, the Americas is the least advanced region in the world when it comes to public healthcare and smoking, the latest data show. Some 60% of healthcare facilities in the region permit smoking, compared with 40% in South East Asia and 36% in Europe.
The most popular cigarette brand in Argentina is Marlboro, which easily leads world cigarette sales at $473 billion annually. Argentina is the only country in South America, however, where Marlboro rules. Derby is the top brand in Brazil while Belmont reigns in Chile and Venezuela.
Marlboro appears to be the most media-savvy cigarette maker on the planet. Says the report:
“Of Hollywood’s top-grossing movies featuring tobacco brand placement over the past fifteen years, seven out of ten times the brand displayed is Marlboro. Studies show that brands showing up on screen most often are also the most heavily advertised in other media.”
In Argentina 68% of the cost of a cigarette is taxes, compared with 37% in the U.S., 87% in Uruguay, 77% in Chile, and just 19% in Paraguay, from which a great deal of smuggled cigarette comes into Argentina.
The average smoker here takes in 1,015 cigarettes a year, or less than 3 “puchos” a day. The world’s leader is Greece at 3,017.
At US $1.14 a pack, cigarettes are cheaper in Argentina than in most countries. They are most expensive in Norway at $11.48 and in the UK at $10.72 while cheapest in Myanmar at 31 US cents. In the U.S. an average pack costs $4.79.
Some 5% of the male deaths in Argentina and as many as 10% of female deaths each year are tobacco related. Worldwide, tobacco is expected to kill 6 million people this year while sucking about $500 billion out of the global economy.
Link: Tobacco Atlas
Leave a Comment