Health Minister Manuel Pizarro said this Wednesday that the tobacco law change “is not a policy against those who smoke” and ensured lung cancer screening would move forward this year.
“An important point is the reduction of tobacco smoke. Tobacco smoke is not a minor public health issue. Changing the tobacco law is not a policy against those who smoke,” Manuel Pizarro told reporters. , in Porto, on the sidelines of a visit to the Santo António Hospital, on the lung cancer screening calendar.
“In 2023, we will start with the selection of initiatives,” the minister added, making sure that projects related to this area do not stop.
While acknowledging that changing tobacco laws is an issue that now, as in 2007, “always has a lot of resistance”, Manuel Pizarro said that two goals were at stake: “to protect non-smokers from exposure to tobacco smoke and ensure that younger generations reach 2040 as a tobacco-free generation.”
“The cancer that has increased the most in mortality is tobacco-related cancer: cancer of the lung, trachea, and bronchi,” the official said.
The Council of Ministers approved on Thursday several amendments to the tobacco law, equating electronic cigarettes with regular tobacco and imposing restrictions on sale and consumption.
“The government has approved a bill in the Council of Ministers that takes decisive steps to protect people from the effects of tobacco. Heated tobacco packs will now be equivalent to conventional tobacco with the obligation to present combined health warnings, and the sale of heated tobacco products will now be banned. tobacco products with flavorings in their components are also prohibited,” Manuel Pizarro said, adding that these measures come into force on October 23.
At a press conference held after the Council of Ministers meeting, the official stressed the need for a legal transposition of the European directive on this issue and the desire to “reduce consumption incentives” and help the Portuguese “overcome addiction” to tobacco.
Among the measures announced are “an extension of the ban on outdoor smoking within the perimeter of public access areas for collective use, especially in places where the most vulnerable people are located, whether in medical or school equipment, as well as the inability to create new places reserved for smokers in areas where smoking is still permitted indoors.
For those establishments whose premises have been adapted to the recently enacted legislative procedures, the final elimination of indoor smoke will only come into effect from 2030, allowing them to recoup their investment.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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