– When I was 14, the package of Tiedemann’s tobacco was pushed away to me. The adults said “now you’ve got the priest’s hand on your head, my boy. Now you must have a smoke.” This is how Frode Kleven started smoking 56 years ago. – They had no idea that these were life-threatening things, he says. The rescue came in the form of a smoking cessation offer which has been a pilot project under the auspices of Vestre Viken health company. Here, Frode has received help to get rid of his nicotine addiction. He took his last cigarette on 30 January, and since then he has been smoke-free. Kleven was helped to quit, but the project he was part of is now ending. Norway is actually among the worst in the class when it comes to smoking cessation. – Miserable In Norway, an average of 16 people die every day from smoking-related diseases. Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross, general secretary of the Cancer Society. Photo: Jorunn Valle Nilsen / Jorunn Valle Nilsen – There used to be offers for smokers who tried to quit, but in Norway the smoking cessation telephone line has been closed, and the campaigns have disappeared, says Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross, secretary general of the Norwegian Cancer Society. A European survey shows that Norway has the second worst offer in Europe for those who want help to quit smoking for good. Norway shares second last place with Serbia and Estonia. In last place is Bosnia and Herzegovina. – We are actually miserable when it comes to quitting smoking in a European context, says Ross. Do you smoke? Yes No I used to smoke, but have quit I use snus Show result Discontinue the smoking cessation offer The three-year pilot project for the Vestre Viken health care company, which has been financed by the Ministry of Health and Care, will end at the end of the year. QUIT: The app for the Directorate of Health is one of the few current public services that help people who want to quit smoking. Photo: Screenshot – I think that’s terrible. I think this is worth betting on, says Kleven. Because the results are very good. Three out of ten were smoke-free six months after the program ended. By comparison, around 5 percent manage to quit on their own. This is shown by an evaluation survey from the Institute of Public Health. The smoking cessation project in Vestre Viken has cost around NOK 6,000 per participant. In comparison, it will cost a hundred times more to treat a patient with lung cancer, according to a calculation from Oslo Economics for the Cancer Society in 2021. The Ministry of Health and Care is now working on a new tobacco strategy to be presented during the spring. Will send the bill to the tobacco industry A number of nationwide health organizations are now proposing that the tobacco industry should contribute to paying for smoking cessation services throughout the country. – We want the industry that is behind the addiction of smokers to also help pay the bills it costs to help them quit, says general secretary Ross from the Cancer Society. They propose a new sector tax for the tobacco industry, which will be used to fund public tobacco prevention campaigns and smoking cessation with free medication and guidance. Jan Robert Kvam in the Tobacco Industry’s joint office. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / SCANPIX This is something the tobacco industry disagrees with. This should more than cover the smoking cessation policy, says Jan Robert Kvam in the Tobacco Industry’s joint office. He believes that people have an independent responsibility whether they want to start or stop smoking. Former heavy smoker Frode Kleven is convinced that the smoking cessation offer was decisive for him being able to stub out his last cigarette. – Yes, now I have stopped for good. THE SMOKING CORNER: Frode Kleven used to smoke under the kitchen fan so as not to disturb the rest of the family. Photo: Caroline Bækkelund Hauge / news
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Frode got help after 56 years – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
