Regular smokers

Data are provided in a comparable basis by Eurostat. Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in our society. It is a major risk factor for diseases of the heart and blood vessels, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, cancers of the lung and other diseases. The indicator is defined as the number of current tobacco smokers among the population, expressed as a percentage of population. A person is a present smoker if he/she declares that smoke tobacco daily or occasionally. The data come from non-harmonised national Health Interview Surveys (HIS) and the countries were asked to post-harmonise the data according to the guidelines which are described in HIS_guidelines 2004 . The HIS data are collected in different years depending on the country, going from 1996 to 2003. There is no fixed periodicity in these kinds of health surveys. Very few countries have a yearly survey on these topics. The national surveys are not all performed in the same period and results are not all at the same time available. From 2004 onwards in EU15 Member States and 2005. From 2004 onwards in EU15 Member States and 2005 in the new Member States, the new EU Statistics on Income and Living Condition survey (SILC) will be used.