Smoking cessation: more support should be given to disadvantaged social classes
June 19, 2020
Par: chef-projet@dnf.asso.fr
Dernière mise à jour: June 19, 2020
Temps de lecture: 3 minutes
Between 2016 and May 2019, the number of daily smokers fell by 1.6 million people. While these figures are encouraging, there are nonetheless inequalities: disadvantaged social classes smoke more. Fabienne El Khoury, a postdoctoral researcher at INSERM in the social epidemiology research team, sheds light on the prevention policy to adopt.
Figures that raise questions
In 2019, the health barometer indicated that: - 19.4% of French people with at least a baccalaureate smoked, - 28.2% of French people without a diploma smoked. The gap between these two populations is therefore considerable.
Higher and earlier smoking
According to Fabienne El Khoury, this disparity has existed since the early 2000s. Several factors could explain the fact that disadvantaged social classes smoke more than wealthier classes. First of all, smoking appears to begin much earlier among disadvantaged populations. Here again, the figures speak for themselves: - 25% of French people smoke at age 17, - among them, 57% have left the school system and 22% are still in school. Disadvantaged young people also appear less informed and therefore less aware of the dangers of smoking. And cannabis consumption, which is higher than among the more affluent classes, also increases potential tobacco consumption.
Policies to be adapted
We therefore see once again that we are not all equal when it comes to tobacco. Specific prevention policies, complementary to general prevention policies, should therefore be considered. Fabienne El Khoury indicates that one solution could be the free distribution of nicotine replacement therapy to disadvantaged adults. Similarly, these adults are not necessarily aware that nicotine replacement therapy can be reimbursed by Social Security. The information mission is therefore fundamental here. The French Cancer Institute (INCA) has understood this well and now takes the fight against social inequality into account in its prevention research funding plan.
Jean-Loup Delmas, “Smoking prevention: “It is time to specifically help disadvantaged populations”, www.20minutes.fr, May 28, 2019
Based on an interview with Fabienne El Khoury
