Sportwissenschaft

Tobacco smokingis the single most important cause for avoidable morbidity and premature deaths in Germany resulting in more than 120.000 deaths per year. Seventy percent of smokers would like to quit but only three percent per year are successful without help. A structured certified curriculum has been available in Germany since 2008 consisting of an Internet-based learning platform combined with two days of direct group counselling. The support of smoking cessation is -from the national economic point of view - a very cost-effective way of gaining quality adjusted life years but it is not adequately integrated into the management of smoking patients. The duration of smoking history, the number of daily cigarettes smoked, tobacco dependence, the motivation to quit, support by medication as well as the duration and intensity of a smoking cessation intervention are important factors determining the success. Although pharmacological support increases the success of smoking cessation,reimbursement for the medication is prohibited by the social security code (34 SGB V).In contrast to worldwide scientific consensus the German legislation defines smoking at any intensity level as life style. Increasing tobacco taxes would be important to decrease the startof smoking in adolescents who are particularly threatened by tobacco addiction. Thus improvementsare necessary in the education of medical students, continuous medical education of physicians as well as in the legislation to decrease the high death toll of tobacco use in Germany.KEY WORDS: Tobacco Dependence, Nicotine Dependence, Tobacco Taxes, Avoidable Morbidity, Premature Death