Smoking and health promotion in Nazi Germany.

Abstract

Accepted December 1993 Accepted for publication January 1994 In his recent paper in this journal "A birth cohort analysis of the smoking epidemic in West Germany", Brenner1 presents data showing that smoking rates increased dramatically from the late 1920s onwards and that the reductions now being seen are limited to men with higher education. His conclusions are that intensified education programmes are required among teenagers, together with res trictive smoking policies at the workplace and on transportation systems. Brenner believes that the relatively limited progress made against smoking in Germany is due to the slow adoption of antismoking campaigns compared with other countries such as the USA. In this commentary we show that, contrary to these assertions, energetic antismoking campaigns were adopted in Germany at a very early stage. Indeed, all of the activities Brenner now com mends were vigorously implemented during the Nazi period in Germany, with, as he clearly demonstrates, little effect on stemming the growing tide.