Smoking will be prohibited on the territory of amusement parks, in areas assigned as recreation spaces by the local public authorities, in water parks and near swimming pools. Also, smoking will not be allowed on the terraces of public eating places and of nightclubs, as well as at filling stations. This is provided in a draft law that was presented by the Ministry of Health for public consultations, IPN reports.
“This regulation is necessary to ensure the right to a smoke-free environment, which is guaranteed by law, especially in the places that are most frequently visited by families with children. It is also specified more clearly the responsibility of employers, owners, managers of public spaces and workplaces to ensure compliance with legal norms and a smoke-free environment at workplaces and spaces under their management,” said the Ministry.
The new provisions set out common labelling requirements for all tobacco products, including heated tobacco refill packets, which will be labelled according to the same requirements as cigarette packets, including spaces allocated for textual and combined warnings. However, on packages of heated tobacco products to which only textual warnings currently apply, combined health warnings will be applied after the amendment. In the case of e-cigarettes and herbal products for smoking, the requirement regarding lateral surface area occupied by the textual health warning of up to 50% will also be mandatory, as it is for tobacco products.
The law will be completed with provisions prohibiting the presentation of tobacco products, related products, devices and accessories for their use, recharging or heating in video, audio, TV materials and programs, in newly created computer games. When audiovisual materials, including TV and video films, TV, video and news programs, containing scenes of tobacco and related products, as well as scenes of consumption of those products, these should be accompanied by the warning “Smoking seriously harms your health and the health of those around and is addictive”.
The draft also provides for the modification of the single sign prohibiting smoking, according to the recommendation of the World Health Organization. Thus, it will include a lit cigarette, a device for heating activated tobacco, an activated electronic cigarette and a hookah – all placed in a red circle crossed out by a red transverse line. Currently, this sign includes only a lit cigarette crossed out by a transverse red line.
Health authorities warn that tobacco, no matter in what form it is used, has a devastating impact on the health of the population. According to estimates, about 6,000 people in Moldova (15% of all registered deaths) die prematurely every year due to tobacco use. The use of heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes, especially among adolescents in Moldova, has increased. In 2019 already, a study conducted among young people showed that 16.3% of adolescents aged 13-15 years used tobacco products, including heated tobacco products. According to the same study, 12.7% of young people aged 13-15 used electronic cigarettes.
