The most active smokers in Moldova are those aged 20-24 years, 95% of whom smoke up to 20 cigarettes a day and 4.8% more than that. The rate of smokers in this age group is higher in urban areas – 15.3%, compared to 13.3% in rural, IPN reports.

According to the National Statistics Bureau (BNS), almost one in three men aged 15-29 smokes, and only 3.1% of women are smokers.

On July 18, the Parliament approved upon the first reading a bill on tobacco control. When enacted, following a second reading and publication, any form of promotion of smoking will be forbidden. The law will also forbid smoking in closed and semi-closed spaces, as well as any form of endorsement of any action on the part of the tobacco industry.

BNS statistics also show that mortality rates have been dropping among the youth in the last few years. Mortality rates have dropped in respect of most causes of death, in particular deaths caused by the so-called social diseases, like infectious and parasitic diseases. At the same time, rates in the age group 25-29 years have increased for the mortality caused by circulatory system diseases, mainly due to heart attacks.

In 2013, the mortality rate for the age group 15-29 years was 69.1 deaths per 100,000 population of that age.