The Ministry of Health has finalized a new Comprehensive Plan Against Smoking which introduces, among other issues, the smoking ban in private vehicles or the generic packaging of tobacco brands, and seeks to equalize by law the restrictions on e-cigarettes.

The Spanish Government has decided to approve a plan with five goals and 21 objectives that it will try to make up for the time lost due to the management of the pandemic in the next four years. For this reason, it has sent the draft of its “Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025”, to which Efe has had access, to scientific and medical societies, and also to the autonomous communities, so that before the On the 15th of this month, present your contributions.

In its 119 pages, the Ministry directed by Carolina Darias recalls in this plan that more than a decade has passed since the last “substantial” modification in the health measures against smoking and, hand in hand with the standards set by the The European Union and the WHO now have ambitions to achieve a “tobacco-free generation” in Spain.

For this, it will be proposed increase smoke-free spaces (which also includes e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products), “especially outdoors.” These spaces without smoke and “without aerosols of electronic cigarettes” also contemplate “certain spaces of the private sphere”, such as private vehicles.

Also, you want stop undercover advertising and promotions on social networks and platforms of all these new products.

On the other hand, Health plans to follow in the wake of other countries such as France or Australia and implement plain packaging of tobacco packs, in such a way as to remove the attractiveness of brands and help reduce cigarette consumption. He also wants to ban flavoring additives in tobacco and related products. The Ministry of Darias also has as a line of action “to promote the taxation of electronic cigarettes with special taxes.”

According to this Plan, “Spain plans to achieve the goal established by the WHO of a 30% relative reduction in tobacco use for the year 2025 “compared to the data of 2010 and, to achieve this, it also wants to increase the taxation of new tobacco products.

One of the novelties with respect to other tobacco plans is that this draft openly includes the need to seek “alternatives to growing tobacco” in Spain and environmental considerations regarding waste disposal, such as expanding the ban on smoking on beaches, which helps to eliminate waste that “seriously” affects the marine ecosystem.

The ultimate goal is that with all this a one-third reduction in premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases in 2030, as well as following the European recommendation to lower the daily smoking rate by 5% by 2040, two points more among young people between 14 and 18 years of age.

The Ministry of Health wants all these objectives that “seek to save lives” are shared by all parties and, thus, “establish a National Agreement on Smoking Prevention with the support of parliamentary groups “.