Anti-Smoking Ban Coming to Serbia Soon

Published on May 4, 2009 4:06 AM

In every country we can find smokers and non-smokers. But the amount of them in different countries differs. For example, Serbia is among the European countries with the largest numbers of smokers. That’s why the ministry of health has proposed further restricting smoking in public and enclosed spaces.

According to the ministry of health, about a third of Serbia's 7-million-plus citizens smoke, nearly 38% of men and 30% of women.

Srmena Krstev, president of Serbia's Commission for the Prevention of Smoking, said: About 8% of teenagers, ages 13 to 15, periodically light up cigarettes. A third of them had their first cigarette at the age of ten.

But in some countries, such as Greece and Turkey, almost half of the men smoke. However, the percentage of women who light up in those countries is much lower than in Serbia. But Serbia of course has rivals in the number of smokers among European countries. This is Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Soon in Serbia, health ministry will introduce a new smoking legislation which will prohibit smoking in enclosed spaces. The new law will be stricter and will cover all public spaces and workplaces, including cafes, restaurants and other service-related facilities.

The realization of the anti-smoking law will occur in phases: first banning smoking in the workplace. The next step will establish smokers' areas in public facilities like restaurants. And finally, banning the practice altogether in public spaces. Implementing the law will not be easy, as opposition is expected.

Awareness of tobacco's harmful effects is growing, particularly of the dangers of secondhand smoke. That’s why, the ministry of health plans a series of intensive campaigns to spread the message more systematically, said researchers.

The main goal of the most of these campaigns is to point out that smoking cause a great number of illnesses, some of which may be deadly.