Department for Prevention and Health Promotion
28.7.1996
The use of tobacco products causes annually about 5,100 premature deaths in Finland. The number has decreased in the last few years because smoking has decreased. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health estimates that involuntary smoking causes 50-60 lung cancer deaths and a few hundred cardiovascular deaths annually.
In 1995, 29 % of working age men and 19 % of women smoked daily. The smoking prevalence has diminished rapidly during the last few years. Also the per capita consumption of tobacco products has declined since 1991. However, daily smoking among young people, although also declined during the last few years, was in 1994 as frequent as 25 % among 15 year old boys and 19 % among girls.
Involuntary or passive smoking has declined rapidly during the last few years. Daily exposure to tobacco smoke has declined both at home and at work.
| Daily exposure to tobacco smoke | ||
| At home | ||
| More than an hour at work |
The Tobacco Control Act (an act on measures to reduce smoking, 693/76) was enacted in 1976 and it entered into force in 1977 (the advertising ban in 1978). Some minor amendments aside, the Act remained the same until 1995.
The following regulations are in force since 1977:
In the summer 1994, Parliament decided to renew the Tobacco Control Act. The main aim of the new provisions (765/94) is to protect people from an involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke at work and in public places. Another main aim is to prevent smoking by young people and to prevent smoking in general in their daily environment. The new provisions entered into force on 1 March 1995.
The key new provisions are:
When Parliament adopted the new provisions it requested the Government to develop the law in such a way that in the future there will be smoke-free areas also in restaurants. The Government should also study whether tobacco smoke should be included in the list of carcinogenic substances. Parliament also demanded the Government to reserve more resources for health and nonsmoking promotion. The amount should be 1 % of the revenue from the tobacco excise tax as recommended by WHO.
The new provisions of the law require that the following places are smoke-free, or smoking is prohibited:
The new features of the law are the more covering list of smoke-free public places (in practice all places) and the ban of smoking in school yards.
One is allowed to establish a smoking room in places listed above but only if it is guaranteed that tobacco smoke will not spread to smoke-free areas. One is not allowed to establish a smoking room in premises intended for people under 18. The restaurants and cafes are still exempted from the law but the owners are encouraged to provide smoke-free services.
Indicating the smoke-free and smoking areas by proper signs is a prerequisite for the protection against tobacco smoke as written in the law. The municipality (usually a health inspector) supervises that the smoke-free provisions are implemented in public places and the police has a duty to help at public events.
All shared areas and all areas intended for customers shall be smoke-free. The employer has a duty to negotiate with employees and then to prohibit smoking or to restrict it in such a way that no employee is exposed to tobacco smoke against his or her will in other areas of the workplace which means foe example working rooms.
In practice this means that almost all areas of workplaces, such as elevators, corridors, coffee rooms, canteens, and offices must be smoke-free.
The employer can establish a special smoking room but he or she is under no duty to do so. Smoking can be allowed in rooms used by one person if one can guarantee that smoke does not spread to other areas. Usually this means that the ventilation must be organized in a special way. Smoke-filled air cannot be circulated or reused in the building. Smoke should not spread to smoke-free areas for example when the door is opened. If customers or other workers enter a room regularly, smoking cannot be allowed in that room.
Smoke-free and smoking areas must be signposted in such a way that there is no confusion about the character of the room. Occupational safety inspectors supervise exposure to tobacco smoke in the same way as all other occupational risks at work.
A shopkeeper is not allowed to sell tobacco products or other products, such as pipes, to anyone under the age of 18. The shopkeeper must, when needed, make sure that the buyer is old enough. The local health inspectors will supervise the ban on sales to young people. If a shopkeeper repeatedly sells tobacco to under-aged people the case must be given to the public prosecutor. A shopkeeper can then be convicted to a fine.
Tobacco advertising and sales promotion has been banned in Finland since 1978 and there has been no case of direct advertising. There have been problems in interpreting the law regarding sponsorship, indirect advertising and distributing product information to those involved in the selling of tobacco. The new provisions will clarify the situation as the new provisions explicitly bans indirect advertising, too. This applies to the use of other products in promoting tobacco products. We still expect many problems in interpreting the law regarding indirect advertising. Now sales promotion aimed at those selling tobacco is also prohibited but reasonable product information is still allowed.
The sales of oral snuff will be prohibited according to the European Union directive. The use of oral snuff has been very limited in Finland and the sales ban can be seen as a preventive measure.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has reserved about 6 million FIM (1 MECU) to promote the implementation of the new provisions in 1995. The measures included a letter to all workplaces with 6 or more employees, a billboard advertising campaign for three weeks at bus stops, a 20-minute TV-programme broadcast twice, a letter and resource package to all schools and teaching institutions, information packages to all municipalities and a country-wide telephone information services, including taped information bits, a fax-on-demand service and on-line counselling on the interpretation of the legal aspects of the law.
There is a wide popular support to protection against tobacco smoke at work. Earlier surveys have shown a 90-95% support to smoke-free provisions (which includes also smokers). The new law stimulated a heated but mainly positive media discussion. In March, there were 1048 articles (including 17 cartoons) on tobacco. Editorials were in general very positive (88%) as well as letters-to-editor (68%). Only the columnists were more critical but even 38% of columns were positive towards the law. The opinion climate is very special in Finland and very favourable for health measures.
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about people quitting smoking this year but the first survey results do not confirm this.
The provisions of the Finnish Tobacco Control Law are not the strictest in the world but they provide a good protection against environmental tobacco smoke. The Law covers most important places where people live their lives. The existing provisions of the Law are well implemented.
The key elements in the successful implementation of the new provisions have been the long-term work by the health authorities and nongovernmental organizations, a stepwise improvement of the Law, adequate resources to spread the health message to the population, and the population's concern for health.
Dr Tapani Piha
Principal Medical Officer
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Department for Promotion and Prevention
P.O. Box 197; Siltasaarenkatu 18 C, 8th floor
FIN00531 Helsinki
Finland
Tel :+358 0 160 4032
+358 50 5599 175 mobile
Fax: +358 0 160 4144
EMail : tapani.piha@stm.vn.mailnet.fi