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Over 75,000 people applied to smoking cessation clinics across Türkiye in the first four months of 2026, with total examinations exceeding 105,000, according to data from the Ministry of Health released on World No Tobacco Day 2026.
These numbers show a 53.6% increase in examinations compared to the same period last year. In 2025, 173,032 people applied to cessation clinics, a 112% increase from 2024, when 81,616 unique patients applied.
The Ministry of Health is growing its tobacco control efforts with both digital and in-person programs. People can now use an online service to talk to specialists by video call from home or work. They receive personalized quit plans and regular follow-ups and can be referred to in-person clinics if needed.
A workplace counseling program trains public sector employees about the dangers of tobacco and ways to quit. Over the past year, mobile clinics and anti-tobacco teams have reached 832,873 people, sending 331,984 of them to the ALO 171 Smoking Cessation Hotline. Another 213,443 people got counseling from these mobile clinics and teams.
Doctors with special training in tobacco addiction treat patients at cessation clinics. Treatment combines cognitive-behavioral methods with proven medications.
The Tobacco Addiction Treatment Monitoring System (TUBATIS) works with the ALO 171 hotline to make sure patients get follow-up and callback support from doctors for up to a year.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says tobacco is the top cause of preventable death worldwide. Each year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco-related causes. Over 7 million are direct smokers, and about 1.6 million die from secondhand smoke.
Cigarette smoke has over 7,000 chemicals. Of these, 250 are known to be harmful, and more than 70 can cause cancer. Smoking is directly linked to over 12 types of cancer, such as lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder, liver, and pancreas cancers.
It causes 85% of all lung cancer deaths and is responsible for about 25% of cancer deaths worldwide, which is around 2.5 million deaths each year.
Using tobacco greatly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. It causes 12% of all deaths from heart and blood vessel problems.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is much more common in smokers, and about 80% of COPD deaths are directly caused by smoking. Tobacco-related chronic respiratory diseases make up 29% of all chronic respiratory deaths worldwide.
Each year, over 65,000 children die from breathing illnesses caused by secondhand smoke indoors. Being exposed to smoke is also linked to sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, and childhood asthma. In Türkiye, 46 out of every 100 children are exposed to cigarette smoke.
The WHO says the tobacco industry has a devastating effect on the environment. About 600 million trees are cut down each year to make cigarettes, and tobacco farming causes about 5% of global deforestation. Around 200,000 hectares of forest are cleared every year for tobacco growing.
Heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers also damages the soil, making the land unfit for food crops.
Every year, about 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are thrown away, making them the most common plastic litter in the world. Each butt can pollute up to 100 liters of water.
Microplastics from cigarette filters end up on the ocean floor and can enter marine life and the human food chain. Making cigarettes produces 84 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, and cigarette factories use 22 billion liters of water annually.
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