Despite progress across Europe in reducing second-hand smoke exposure, Greece remains at the bottom of the rankings for smoke-free homes.
According to a TackSHS survey conducted in 2017-2018, and published this week, only 44.4% of Greek households reported being smoke-free, significantly below the European average of 70.2%.
Smokers were far less likely to enforce smoke-free rules at home. Only 37.3% of smokers across Europe reported living in smoke-free homes
But even many Greeks who aren’t smokers themselves don’t have smoke-free homes. The survey showed only 60.1% of households without smokers are smoke-free—a concerning figure compared to 96.4% in Portugal.
Exposure to second-hand smoke is a leading cause of preventable illnesses, contributing to conditions such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases. Children often bear the brunt of this exposure.
The study found that higher educational levels correlated with greater adoption of smoke-free policies, and that countries with higher GDPs and those in Northern Europe had a higher prevalence of smoke-free homes.
The TackSHS survey reveals that smoke-free homes are becoming the norm across Europe, with a steady rise from 62.2% in 2010 to 70.2% in 2018. Greece’s slower progress is an unsurprising but sad indication.
The percentage of smokers in Greece amounted to 28% of the country’s total population in 2023, according to a nationwide survey carried out by Marc.
