The interfactional deputy union for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases with the participation of experts of the WHO Regional Office for Europe has initiated roundtable talks on fight against tobacco and implementation of Directive 2014/40/EU.
At present they discuss the draft Law "On amendments to some laws of Ukraine concerning protection of public health from the harms of tobacco" No.2820, and also up-to-date and effective measures to reduce smoking prevalence in the context of implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Directive 2014/40/EC.
"The draft law No. 2820 fully complies with the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Directive 2014/40/EU. Draft law No. 2820 is first of all intended to stop the epidemic of tobacco smoking among children and youth. Directive 2014/40/EU is a consensus decision of 28 member states of the European Union. Directive 2001/37/EU was approved 14 years ago. Since then plenty of scientific evidence were found proving that the Directive 37 is not well-functioning any more and that it is stale. This is a choice of the State: whether to stay ahead of the curve in the European anti-tobacco policy, or to roll back to 20th century. That is, if you want to reach a compromise with the tobacco industry, then implement the Directive 37, but if you want to strengthen the policy of public health protection, then you should definitely implement the Directive 40," said Kristina Mauer-Stender, Tobacco Control Programme Manager, Noncommunicable Diseases and Life-Course Department, WHO Regional Office for Europe.
The participants of the roundtable expressed general opinion that previous steps on reducing the level of smoking in Ukraine, including the ban on smoking in public places, the ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products, and lifting of the tax on tobacco brought positive results in the field of public health protection. Thus, during six years (2008-2014) the prevalence of smoking among the population of Ukraine aged over 12 fell from 25.6% to 20.9%, or by 4.7 percentage points, or 18%, according to the State Statistics Service. The sale of cigarettes for the same period fell from 125 billion to 73 billion.
However, to continue the trend of tobacco consumption reduction it is necessary to introduce new and effective measures for tobacco control.