Smokers age faster
A prophetic photo booth shows how long-term tobacco use affects one's face.
Smoking accelerates skin aging: This side effect of tobacco consumption is not a new finding, but a new campaign by the Federal Office of Public Health and the Lung League is a particularly drastic reminder of it.
A specially designed photo booth tours Switzerland for it. The special thing about it:
Those who have their picture taken in it receive three portraits on a photo strip: one current, one as a non-smoker in 20 years and one as a smoker in 20 years. Visitors are thus confirmed in their decision not to smoke or reminded of the consequences of their addiction. Experts from local health organizations are present to provide information about the health consequences of smoking and to offer advice on how to quit.
The SmokeFree photo booth is part of the SmokeFree tobacco prevention campaign. The project is being implemented by the Swiss Lung League together with regional partners. A total of around 60 stand campaigns are being carried out in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino.
Half want to quit
In surveys, more than half of smokers say they want to quit. This corresponds to almost 700,000 people in Switzerland. However, many of them put off the concrete date for quitting or fail in their attempt to stop smoking because they are not sufficiently prepared for the possible stumbling blocks.
From 2001 to 2008, the proportion of smokers in the Swiss population decreased, from 33% to 25%. Since 2008, this proportion has stagnated at more or less the same, but still high level. The goal of the National Tobacco Program (NPT) is a further reduction to 23% by 2016. Tobacco use is still the most common cause of premature death in Switzerland. Every year, 9500 people die as a result of tobacco use.
