Public Health France launches anti-smoking campaign

Public Health France and the Ministry of Health and Health Insurance are launching a campaign against smoking. This communication encouraging people to quit is aimed in particular at those most economically and socially disadvantaged. It aims to "deconstruct fears linked to quitting smoking" and to encourage smokers to seek help in their cessation process.[1].

Smoking inequalities are widening in France

While smoking prevalence among 18-75 year-olds showed no significant change between 2019 and 2020, the most disadvantaged tercile of the population in France saw its smoking rate increase sharply during this same period, rising from 30 to 331 daily smokers. Smoking remains a true social marker, with a 15-point gap between the wealthiest tercile and the poorest tercile. Poor smokers face a double whammy: they are both more likely to be smokers and less likely to successfully quit smoking. This reality leads, in particular, to premature excess mortality for these individuals.

A campaign to demystify the act

Since February 14th and for one month, Santé Publique France has been broadcasting video clips of testimonies from real former smokers. The goal is to demonstrate to current smokers that it is possible and easy to seek help from various professionals: pharmacists, doctors, specialists on Tabac info service, etc., and that smokers can receive free support in their quitting process. Santé Publique France emphasizes that it has focused its incentive campaign on the notion of accessibility and proximity: the filmed testimonies, staged in everyday life situations, seek to demystify the quitting process. By seeking to create a sense of empathy and identification among smokers, the four video spots are also structured around as many cessation strategies: nicotine replacement therapy, support from a professional, using a support group, or the Tabac Info Service application.

FT

[1] Public Health France, A smoking cessation campaign aimed in particular at the most socio-economically vulnerable smokers, 02/14/2022, (accessed 02/16/2022)