Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, the overall smoking rate in South Korea has declined slightly due to restrictions on outdoor smoking. However, as e-cigarettes have become the "new favorite", the per capita smoking volume and cigarette sales have increased. Although studies have shown that smoking is one of the risk factors that increase the risk of new coronary pneumonia infection and severe disease, due to the epidemic and the marketing of tobacco companies, the proportion of smoking cessation in South Korea has dropped significantly.

South Korea's per capita smoking rate rebounds due to epidemic

After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the overall smoking rate in South Korea decreased slightly. Relevant surveys show that the smoking rate of Korean adults in 2021 is 19.1%, down from 19.8% in 2020. Among them, the smoking rate of adult men decreased by about 1 percentage point year-on-year to 35.6%. It is reported that South Korea will no longer mandate wearing masks outdoors from May 2, and the overall smoking rate may increase.

Since 2011, South Korea's per capita smoking has been declining for 10 consecutive years, but it has shown a rebound after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia. Data show that South Korea's per capita smoking cigarettes decreased from 15.3 cigarettes in 2011 to 12.4 cigarettes in 2019, but increased again to 13.5 cigarettes in 2020. The main reason is the increase in e-cigarette consumption. A study found that smokers who only smoked e-cigarettes consumed an average of 8.7 cigarettes per day; smokers who smoked real cigarettes and e-cigarettes together consumed twice the amount of cigarettes, reaching 17.1 cigarettes. Lin Renze, director of health policy of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea, said that currently the "Tobacco Business Law" only applies to tobacco made from tobacco leaves, and e-cigarettes are actually a gray area. Definition of Tobacco.

According to the Korean media "Dong-A Ilbo", previously restricted by the mandatory order to wear masks outdoors, it was difficult for people to smoke outdoors, and smokers who did not like e-cigarettes had to switch to e-cigarettes. Because the smell and smoke of e-cigarettes are very small, just find a place where no one is. The interviewed smoker said: "When I was in the office, I basically kept my hands on e-cigarettes, so the amount of smoking actually increased by about two times compared to before the epidemic."

Data shows that nearly 80% of e-cigarette smokers are "secretly smoking" indoors. A study published by the team of Professor Zhao Hongjun (sound) of Seoul Asan Hospital showed that 79.2% of e-cigarette smokers said they had "secretly smoked" in the last month.

Smokers are more at risk of contracting COVID-19

Related academic research in South Korea has shown that tobacco can increase the receptor "ACE2" of the new coronary pneumonia virus. Therefore, smokers have more virus receptors accumulated in their bodies, so the probability of developing new coronary pneumonia is higher, which is five times higher than that of ordinary people; and smokers who smoke both e-cigarettes and ordinary cigarettes are more likely to contract the new crown than ordinary people. 7 times.

In addition, the toxic substances in cigarettes can reduce cardiovascular and pulmonary immune function. Therefore, compared with non-smokers, smokers are also more likely to develop severe disease after contracting new coronary pneumonia. The team of Professor Zhao Xiuxian of Chung-Ang University Hospital in South Korea said that compared with smokers who only smoked real cigarettes, smokers who smoked e-cigarettes and real cigarettes together had higher inflammation in their bodies and were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

Despite this, during the epidemic, people's vigilance against the harm of tobacco did not rise but fell. According to the report, in the first half of 2020, only about 90,000 people quit smoking at the National Smoking Cessation Center in South Korea, a year-on-year decrease of more than half due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. The proportion of smokers who successfully quit smoking was 22.3%, down from 38.5% the previous year. The rate of individual smoking cessation attempts in 2020 also hit an all-time low of 52.5%.

Kim Gil-ryong, head of the anti-smoking policy team of the National Anti-Smoking Support Center in Korea, said that although smoking is one of the important risk factors for increasing the risk of new coronary pneumonia infection and severe illness, tobacco companies do everything possible to carry out various promotions and advertisements. smoking rate). There are no harmless cigarettes in this world, and the best choice to protect your health is to quit smoking.

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