How Africa News
According to the country’s health minister, Portugal is preparing measures to prohibit smoking near schools and hospitals, as well as in covered outdoor dining areas.
The proposal, which will be debated in Parliament at an undefined time, would also prohibit smoking in all indoor venues, including smoking areas inside cafes.
It would also restrict the construction of additional such zones and the selling of tobacco products in places where smoking is prohibited beginning in 2025.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, stated in June that it hoped to reduce tobacco consumption in the 27-country bloc to fewer than 5% of the population by 2040.
Smoking was first banned in public indoor spaces in Portugal more than a decade ago.
“With this law, we hope that young people can live in an environment without tobacco, reduce the incentive to smoke and allow smokers to overcome their addiction,” Manuel Pizarro said after a Council of Ministers meeting.
“Our objective is to have a generation living without tobacco by 2040… this law is in line with the EU’s anti-tobacco stance, but we wish to go further,” he added.
The government also wants health warnings introduced on packaging of tobacco products like e-cigarettes, as is the case with traditional smoking items.
In 2019, Lisbon said some 13,500 deaths that year were linked to tobacco use.
