Pilar Pérez Madrid

Madrid

Updated Wednesday, April 3, 2024-08:33

The autonomous communities and Health meet today in a monograph of the Public Health Commission on tobacco. In it,

the content of the 160 amendments of the total of 180 presented by the CCAA will be shared

. Today's event will serve to 'unclog' and promote the Comprehensive Tobacco Prevention and Control Plan (PIT) 2024-2027.

The final document will go to the

Interterritorial Council on Friday and "the

legislative derivatives

that can be extracted from this plan will be defined

," explained Mónica García, Minister of Health, in an intervention on

La Hora de La 1

, early in the morning. At the same time, García congratulated himself for "having dusted off" the plan and "the joint work that all the CCAA have done."

The Minister of

Health has not announced a ban on smoking on terraces as a mandate

, but she has stated that "

we want to expand public spaces where there are

health risks due to exposure to second-hand smoke." This is where the terraces would come in, and perhaps, as noted a few months ago, the interior of cars. "We must remember that there are studies that show that in the air we breathe there is up to 94% nicotine residue," she pointed out.

Furthermore, he stressed that the

other

objectives of the plan

are "to prevent

new generations from starting the habit

", without forgetting those already addicted "for whom we will look for

solutions to quit smoking

" [the CCAA ask for financial contributions for coverage pharmacology of this step].

In this way, the deadline set 15 days ago when

the regional directors general of Public Health requested more time

to analyze the text and "be able to send contributions" is met. At the March meeting, several communities were in favor of tightening some of the measures included in the PIT and had announced that they preferred to study in depth the roadmap proposed by Health.

To know more

Health.

Health anti-smoking plan: "It is almost impossible, a utopia, that tobacco consumption can be regulated in the private sphere"

  • Editor: CRISTINA RUIZ Madrid

Health anti-smoking plan: "It is almost impossible, a utopia, that tobacco consumption can be regulated in the private sphere"

Health.

Health studies increasing the price of tobacco in its strategy against smoking

  • Editorial: EUROPA PRESS Madrid

Health studies increasing the price of tobacco in its strategy against smoking

The preliminary draft of the PIT, in which scientific societies and entities related to the field of smoking have participated, makes clear its commitment to reducing the prevalence of tobacco consumption and advancing actions "in the face of the challenge of emerging products." It consists of five goals and 22 objectives and largely rescues the previous plan that has remained in a drawer for more than two years.

The text contemplates, among other measures, the legislative expansion of spaces without tobacco smoke and without aerosols of electronic cigarettes and related products in "certain community and social environments in the open air and in certain spaces in the private sphere, especially those with the presence of minors" and considers it essential to be aware of the

new forms of nicotine consumption

through electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco and to reduce their attractiveness, especially among the young population.

What are the communities asking for?

For example,

Asturias or Catalonia

, as reported by EFE, - which also calls for

plain packaging

- are committed to

banning smoking on terraces

, the spaces that raise the most differences of opinion, while others such as

the Balearic Islands or La Rioja

opt for

self-regulation .

through a system of attractive tax incentives

and quality distinctions.

The Canary Islands propose prohibiting it, in addition to terraces

, in canopies, in

outdoor sports

spaces and around the entrances of places where it is already banned and also requests updated data on plain packaging - a measure rejected by the industry's employers, strong weight in the islands - in the countries in which it has been implemented and the fiscal equalization of tobacco and all its derivatives.

Several have expressed their reluctance about prohibiting smoking in

private spaces such as cars when minors or pregnant women are present; This is the case of Castilla y León or Andalusia

, which have requested greater clarity on the regulation, so that the compatibility between the right to health and individual freedom is guaranteed.

Madrid considers that it is up to the State to introduce changes in the law applicable to the entire territory and Galicia, which defends self-regulation and initiatives such as its 'Smoke-free Beaches' or 'Smoke-free Parks', insists on the need to update the plan, always seeking consensus and to provide it with funds for its implementation, just like Murcia, which requires that it not only contain strategic lines, but also specific financing.

Most agree on equating conventional cigarettes with vaping and other forms of consumption, and some even go further and want the sale of single-use cigarettes to minors to be prohibited.

Aragón, however, opts to carry out studies on the health effects of the substances in electronic cigarettes with and without nicotine or to study the possibility that they could be used as a way to quit smoking in especially indicated cases and meeting some requirements.

They are also committed to increasing the price of the pack - a measure that is being studied by Health and the Treasury - but the Balearic Islands urge that the money derived from the increase be dedicated to the fight against smoking so that it is not understood as something merely revenue-raising.