Thu, 08 January 11:00 2009

Health Ministry inspections reveal success of anti-tobacco legislation in Andalucia

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More News from the Costa de Almería

Tobacco

THE Regional Health Ministry carried out inspections of more than 1,600 establishments in the province of Almeria in 2008. The inspections, the numbers of which have been boosted by the need to meet the provisions of the anti-tobacco laws, are far in excess of the 64 establishments inspected in 2007. Nearly 90 per cent of all the establishments visited since January 2006 were found to have complied with the anti-tobacco law, in relation to which a total of 198 formal complaints have been submitted in the province since it came into effect, resulting in 32 penalties being issued. Before the anti-tobacco law came into effect, the Regional Health Ministry organized the ‘Integral Plan to Prevent Nicotine Poisoning’ (PITA), which includes 85 measures aimed at discouraging the smoking habit among teenagers and helping those who want to give up smoking. One of the measures included in the plan is the increase in health resources available in Andalucia to help those citizens who want to quit smoking. Every primary care health district has been provided with a ‘Unit to Support Smokers’. Thirty four of these units are ready to support those willing to quit the habit in the province. Public health centres also offer free advice to those who want to give up smoking. More than 203,443 residents of Andalucia have benefited from these resources in 2008. The last Andalucian health survey shows that 31 per cent of the population of the autonomous community smokes every day (39.5 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women). Thirty three per cent of young people, between 14 and 24 years of age, smoke, which is five per cent less than some years ago.
These figures have been helped by increased training of professionals, more than 12,000 of whom have been trained in Andalucia up to December 2008. Tobacco directly causes 10,000 deaths per year in Andalucia, with one person dying from its effects every hour in the community. Scientific research shows that those who don’t smoke can live up to 15 years longer than those who smoke regularly.

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