Tobacco & Nicotine

Many people, especially young people, are not aware that the nicotine in tobacco is considered one of the most powerful addictive and addiction-maintaining substances (e.g. Nutt et al. 2007). Tobacco smoking is the third most impactful factor in the burden of disease in Europe, after the risks due to malnutrition and high blood pressure (GBD 2010). Although the proportion of 14 to 65-year-old smokers in the Swiss resident population has fallen from 33% in 2001 to 27% in 2010, the figure has stagnated since 2008 (source: Suchtmonitoring).Despite the lower values, over 9,000 in Switzerland people still die from the consequences of smoking, which corresponds to 15% of the total deaths (source: BFS 2009). In addition to various types of cancer (41%), the main causes of tobacco-related deaths are cardiovascular (41%) and respiratory diseases (18%). Smoking is much more widespread in certain population groups than in the general population. For these particular risk groups, the ISGF is developing specific interventions (tailored interventions) that will be integrated into an overarching Swiss framework program. Additionally, the ISGF regularly carries out innovative projects to target high risk groups of smokers and to prevent smoking or the development of tobacco addiction.