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Ilan County has nation's highest smoking rate: poll

The nation has more than 4 million cigarette smokers, with the smoking rate highest in Ilan County, according to the Department of Health.

In the first large-scale survey on smoking in Taiwan, the department commissioned Taipei Medical University to conduct the poll on adult smoking behavior by interviewing 16,688 adults via telephone in 25 cities and counties.

The survey found that 42.8 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women smoke. Though the figures are lower than the 2002 rate of 48.2 percent of men and 5.3 percent of women, the DOH said the number of people who smoke still translates to roughly 4.2 million.

In terms of prevalence, the highest smoking rate is in Ilan County at 29.36 percent, followed by Taichung County at 28.19 percent, Taoyuan County at 27.19 percent, Miaoli County at 26.93 percent and Nantou County at 26.66 percent.

Chen Ping-ling (陳品玲), an associate professor at Taipei Medical University, said that one noteworthy phenomenon is that the prevalence of cigarette smoking is generally higher in eastern Taiwan than in western Taiwan. The rate is lowest in central Taiwan.

In contrast with the stereotype, the survey also found that the number of smokers in urban areas was significantly lower than in rural areas, which Chen attributed to the enactment of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) and successful anti-smoking campaigns in urban areas.

The survey also found that even in cities and counties which are considered close-knit -- such as Taichung City and County, Tainan City and County, and Kaohsiung City and County -- the smoking rates in county areas are invariably higher than in the city.

Chen attributed the phenomenon to the varying population structures in cities and counties, adding that medical records at home and overseas also indicated that the bulk of smokers are those who have a lower education level and blue-collar workers.
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