200m euros per year spend Kosovars on tobacco

In Kosovo alone, about 3 thousand and 500 tons of tobacco are introduced in one year. According to these Kosovo Customs statistics, it turns out that citizens spend about 150m to 200m euros per year on tobacco consumption. For one person, if he spends a pack of cigarettes a day, it turns out that his annual expenses total 600 euros.

Sami Uka, official of the World Health Organisation in Kosovo, told Free Europe Radio that damage to the local economy by smoking is ongoing and increasing.

“We as the office of the World Health Organization maintain the position that smoking harms the country's economy, and this is based on studies in other countries, though there is no specific literal study on Kosovo”.

However, Kosovo is no exception, as smoking causes health consequences which, in turn, harm the country's economy with work shortages, premature death and damage to population health”, Uka said.

Otherwise, in Kosovo the Law on Tobacco Control has entered into force in 2013, but its implementation is still estimated not to be at the satisfactory level.

Faik Hoti, director of the Department of Health Information (in the Exile Government), told Radio Free Europe that the country has managed to lower smoking privacy, especially among young people, as it adds that the import of tobacco has been declining over the years.

Kosovo has made continued efforts to reduce prevalence, lower smoking, where the tobacco control Law was approved in 2013”.

“As a result of various activities, legal measures and empowerment for tobacco control, there have been positive effects in our country related to reducing smoking in young people. The 2016 study of ages 13 to 15 has resulted in a decline in tobacco consumption of 6.7 percent in 4.4 percent. Passive smoking has also marked a drop from 84 to 43 percent”, Hoti said.

Hoti also mentions the establishment of the excise for Kosovo's import of tobacco, which, according to him, has provided its own effects.

There has been an increase in the 27-euro tobacco excise for a kilogram of cigarettes as much as it was in 2012, at 41 euros in 2016. Import loss has been observed as well as free smoking spaces, although there are violations, says Hoti.

According to the World Health Organization's report, tobacco remains contain over 7,000 environmental toxic chemicals, including cancer - causing substances.

However, although there are no accurate statistics, data presenting competent organs in Kosovo speaks of about 800 new cancer cases annually. The largest number of cases are lung cancer, breast cancer, and skin, which, according to health experts, is closely related to tobacco and smokers.