The Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) was informed on Friday, April 5, of the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking, which will be implemented from now on in the measures that contemplate the legislative norms that are going to be implemented. promote to realize a plan that seeks to have a “healthier country, more healthy lives and a higher quality of life.”
The Minister of Health, Mónica García, said that the plan “is now a reality” and explained at the end of the meeting that this document “is a source of national pride” and has the firm purpose of putting Spain back in the vanguard of the fight against tobacco. The Health objective includes preventing young people from starting to smoke, increasing the number of adults who quit tobacco and expanding smoke-free spaces to avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.
“This plan would not have been possible without dialogue and without the will to agree on the tobacco epidemic,” he declared, and highlighted the work, commitment and drive that the autonomous communities, scientific societies have carried out for years. , patient societies, youth groups, public health entities and health professionals. “It is a pioneering, ambitious and committed plan,” he assured.
Once the plan is approved, the development of different laws will be addressed that make the “intentions” it contains a reality to regulate aspects such as equating the regulation on advertising, sponsorship and promotion, new tobacco products and equating them to traditional tobacco, on free spaces smoke, packaging, transposition of European regulations or tax policy. This plan “lays the foundations and the roadmap for the following advances that must be made in legislative matters.”
The minister has highlighted the cordial terms of the dialogue developed within the CISNS and wanted to once again emphasize that this document is the result of the technical work that has been carried out for years by the technicians of the Ministry itself and the autonomous communities, whose allegations to the plan, Furthermore, they have been taken into account in a high percentage. On the other hand, the CISNS has also decided to create a Primary Care Commission to focus the debate within the Council.
More smoke-free spaces and other new features of the Plan
Among the most relevant aspects of the Plan is the increase in smoke-free spaces, which has already been regulated in some territories. Other aspects included in the new Plan are:
- The smoking ban will be extended to other areas, such as beaches or parks, and the perimeter of the ban will be expanded in places where smoking can no longer be allowed, such as schools or health centers, as well as in areas where people must stay for a while, such as bus shelters. In private environments, such as private cars, nothing has been decided yet.
- Will smoking be allowed on the terraces? Smoking on terraces is one of the issues that has generated the greatest controversy, and although the objective of Health is to prohibit smoking on terraces so that this habit stops being seen as normal and to prevent secondhand smoke from harming those who are nearby , since it has been shown to be harmful, this will be reflected in a law that has to pass through Congress and it is unknown how that rule will remain.
- Generic packaging. It refers to the appearance of the packs being similar for all tobacco brands and prioritizing warnings about the health risks of tobacco.
- Increase the price of tobacco. The increase that will be applied has not yet been decided and will have to be agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance. Currently the taxes levied on this product in our country represent around 79% of the price, but in other countries the percentage is higher, so there is room for an increase.
A great advance in the fight against tobacco
In the opinion of Manuel Franco, epidemiologist, professor and researcher at the universities of Alcalá and Johns Hopkins, and spokesperson for the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (SESPAS): “The Comprehensive Smoking Plan in Spain proposes five fundamental and simple points that would be an advance to reduce the disease burden of smoking in our country: prevention, help to quit smoking, reduction of exposure, research and coordination of control. The adoption of this plan would undoubtedly be an advance in health and well-being for our country and its citizens, regardless of their autonomous community of residence. In the most advanced countries in the world, these recommendations have already been implemented by governments of all ideological stripes,” according to what he told SMC Spain.
“The adoption of measures that limit exposure to smoke and aerosols from tobacco and other related products is undoubtedly an effective strategy to protect the health of the population”
Josep Maria Suelves, Head of the Smoking and Injury Prevention and Control Service at the Public Health Agency of Catalonia and member of the Board of Directors of the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking, also considers that this Plan constitutes an important step for reduce the impact of tobacco on the health of the population: “The adoption of measures that limit exposure to smoke and aerosols from tobacco and other related products is undoubtedly an effective strategy to protect the health of the population, although it will surely require approval of legislative initiatives in the parliamentary chambers.”
But, he adds, that “perhaps not enough attention has been paid to other lines of action included in the drafts of the PIT and that are, at least, equally urgent, necessary and effective,” and he points out:
- Review of taxation to increase the minimum price of tobacco. Currently the selling price of a pack of cigarettes in Spain is well below that of most of the surrounding countries and there is evidence that increasing prices effectively reduces the start of tobacco use in adolescence and encourages cessation of smoking, without undermining public resources.
- Introduction of plain tobacco packaging. Currently, there are more than 20 countries around the world that have introduced this measure, which requires that all packs have a uniform external appearance and that each brand is identified only with its name written in a homogeneous font. Plain cigarette packaging prevents packs from being advertising media and helps reduce the onset of smoking in adolescence without producing counterproductive effects announced by tobacco multinationals, such as an increase in smuggling.
- Update of regulations that affect some emerging products. The increase in the use of tobacco-related products in adolescence, such as electronic cigarettes, makes it advisable to reinforce the control of their promotion and marketing, since they promote the initiation and progression of tobacco consumption and pose health risks.
- Development of communication campaigns to promote tobacco cessation and effective help programs to quit smoking. Information, advice and different therapeutic measures – behavioral and pharmacological – have been shown to effectively help people quit smoking and prevent the development of the diseases it causes.
“As the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking and other social, scientific and professional organizations in the health field have claimed, it is desirable that the political and institutional debate give way as soon as possible to these urgent advances for public health,” concludes the expert.
Sources: Ministry of Health and SMC Spain
