There's no place to smoke

Russia ratified the WHO tobacco control convention

Tobacco kiosks may disappear from the streets of Russian cities, and cigarettes from the menu of bars and restaurants. And the cost of a pack in just three or four months can increase several times. Even in duty-free shops you won’t be able to buy cheaper items - cigarettes are completely withdrawn from sale there. All these are the consequences of Russia’s accession to the framework convention of the World Health Organization (WHO) on tobacco control : the State Duma unanimously voted for the adoption of the relevant law last Friday. The draft of this document was approved by the government back in January.

Anti-smoking measures provided for by the convention will be intensified in stages. Firstly, smoking will be prohibited in restaurants, cafes and bars. Deputies say that the development of legislative support for this measure will take no more than six months. Then, within three years, all tobacco manufacturers will be forced to switch to the new design - they will be required to place warning notices on the packs, the area of ​​which is “at least 30% of the front surface.” At the same time, warning slogans must be constantly updated. And the labels “light”, “soft”, “with reduced resin content” are generally prohibited as misleading to the consumer. WHO also recommends placing colorful images of human internal organs affected by malignant tumors on cigarettes. But this is a matter of taste for national legislators. And finally, over the next five years there will be a complete ban on advertising of tobacco products. An analysis of the effectiveness of this measure, carried out in most of the 150 countries that have already signed the international document, showed that cigarette consumption is reduced by 7.4%, and tobacco products in general by 5.4%. “If we, having signed the convention, must introduce a complete ban on advertising within five years, this does not mean that we should wait that long,” Olga Borzova, head of the Duma Committee on Health Protection, shared her view on the issue. And she promised to speed up the process.

The most effective measure to combat tobacco smoking is traditionally considered to be economic. WHO experts are confident that an increase in tobacco duties by 10% leads to a decrease in cigarette consumption by 8%. According to WHO, increasing the final cost of a pack of cigarettes reduces the number of deaths caused by smoking-related diseases. “The Framework Convention was approved back in 2003, since then our country has not been able to join it due to the opposition of tobacco corporations,” Nikolai Gerasimenko, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, commented on the adoption of the new law. According to him, the biggest problem in our country is the sale of cigarettes to children. “We are now deciding to close all street kiosks,” said the deputy. WHO experts conducted a large-scale sociological study in our country before Russia finally supported the convention. It turned out that 75% of Russian high school students smoke constantly, and 40% of junior schoolchildren smoke periodically.

Galina PAPERNAYA