As many as 40,7 percent of adults and young people in Montenegro are smokers, which ranks Montenegro in an infamous statistic, among the leaders in Europe.
This was announced by the Minister of Health, Dragoslav Šćekić, at yesterday's multi-sector meeting on the topic "Control of tobacco use in Montenegro - challenges and opportunities", organized by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization.
Šćekić, as stated in the announcement of the World Health Organization, reminded that the use of tobacco products represents a significant risk factor for the development of cardiovascular, respiratory and malignant diseases, as well as one of the leading causes of disability and premature death.
On that occasion, he expressed his concern that as many as 40,7 percent of adults and young people in Montenegro are smokers, which ranks our country in an infamous statistic, among the leaders in Europe.
He warned that the marketing of new tobacco products significantly contributes to this trend and allows the tobacco industry to expand the number of new users, especially among young people.
According to Šćekić, an effective fight against tobacco and efforts to preserve the health of the population presupposes compliance with the legal provisions on the ban on smoking, increasing excise taxes and value-added taxes, as well as limiting the availability of tobacco, its use, and providing support services for smoking cessation.
He emphasized that with a determined fight against cigarette smuggling and a rigorous excise policy, the Government of Montenegro will continue to work on reducing the use of tobacco products in the coming period.
"I especially want to thank the Minister of Finance, Aleksandar Damjanović, for his wholehearted and significant help, who, together with us, decided to organize this area, Šćekić said.
He added that, with the support of the World Health Organization, a draft of the National Program for Controlling the Use of Tobacco Products in Montenegro was drawn up, with an Action Plan for 2022-2024. year.
"This document defines clear measures and activities aimed at reducing the availability of tobacco products, implementing a pricing policy, preventing the initiation of this bad habit and establishing services within the health system to provide support for smoking cessation. In addition, the Program the expansion of legal provisions in the field of advertising and restriction of tobacco use in public places, the establishment of a laboratory for testing the harmful ingredients of tobacco products and the implementation of research on the use of classic and new tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes, are also foreseen. The main goal of this program is to reduce the use of tobacco and harmful consequences caused by its consumption, as well as exposure to tobacco smoke," said Šćekić.
Emphasizing that the situation regarding tobacco use in Montenegro is alarming, Damjanović pointed out that the scale of the problem of tobacco use, measured by lost lives and the cost to the national economy, requires urgent action and strong multi-sectoral action in the implementation of the proposed Program for the use of tobacco in Montenegro.
He also reiterated the readiness of the Ministry of Finance to provide a full contribution to the fight against the smoking epidemic in Montenegro through the planning and implementation of fiscal policy measures.
"For the next year, the price of tobacco products is planned to increase by about 10 percent," said Damjanović.
He recalled the need for a comprehensive approach in controlling supply and demand for tobacco products.
Damjanović appealed to all public policy makers to intensify coordinated action in the fight against tobacco.
The President of the Committee for Health, Labor and Social Welfare of the Parliament of Montenegro, Srđan Pavićević, reminded that tobacco is the leading risk factor that generates the epidemic of chronic non-communicable diseases in Montenegro and emphasized that the problem of tobacco use is a problem of addiction.
"In the absence of an environment that promotes a system of values and quality programs, which direct a young person to education, sports, art and contribute to every moment of a young person's life being filled with productive work that ennobles, adolescents in Montenegro are a particularly vulnerable group", concluded Pavićević .
According to him, they are the target of the "tobacco industry" and a base for recruiting new tobacco consumers.
Recognizing the importance of a comprehensive approach in solving the problem of tobacco control, Pavićević particularly emphasized "the importance of insisting on the introduction of significantly higher prices for tobacco products, as well as on punitive measures."
The head of the WHO Office in Montenegro, Mina Brajović, pointed out that on an annual level, tobacco takes more than two thousand lives in Montenegro, and in 50 percent of cases it is premature mortality - that is, death occurs before the age of 70.
She added that every lost life is a tragedy, especially when the fatal outcome could have been prevented.
"Consumption of this product, permitted by law, collapses the social and economic development of Montenegro with estimated economic losses of 7.3 percent of GDP. Tobacco costs us - life, health, productivity, development," said Dr. Brajović. According to her, it is particularly worrying that the use of tobacco is aggressively and rapidly penetrating the population of children and adolescents, aged 13 to 15, as well as the population of younger women. Dr. Brajović said that it is possible to reverse the trend if the country consistently insists on an integrated approach and a comprehensive package of measures including fiscal measures, smoking bans, better information and awareness raising, labeling of tobacco products. As she said, these are measures that bring double benefits, both public health and economic. "WHO welcomes Montenegro's determination to take a step forward and work in the interest of the public health of citizens, not disease, to work in the interest of inclusive and sustainable development, and not in the interest of the tobacco industry," said Brajović.
Reminding that good health presupposes "smart investments" in prevention, Brajović pointed out that the results of the latest investment study indicate that every euro invested in the implementation of an integral package of measures to control supply and demand for tobacco products brings up to 207 euros in guaranteed dividends in Montenegro, as well as in order for our country to avoid economic losses of over 670 million euros in a period of only 15 years.
During the consultation, the team leader of the WHO Framework Convention Secretariat, Andrew Black, pointed out that tobacco is harmful to both health and sustainable development.
"Smoking not only causes many life-threatening diseases, but also damages the environment and as such takes a huge toll on the global level. Smoking rates in Montenegro are high and we are extremely concerned about the number of young people in the country who are smokers. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is an international agreement that has been reached with the aim of ending the global epidemic of tobacco use. Through the FCTC 2030 project, which is generously funded by Great Britain, Norway and Australia, the Government of Montenegro is made available support and resources to accelerate progress on tobacco control, including full implementation of the WHO FCTC," Black said.
During the meeting, a draft of the Program for Controlling the Use of Tobacco Products in Montenegro with the Action Plan 2022-2024 was presented. years.
The goal of the Program, as announced, is to reduce the prevalence of the use of tobacco products and the harmful consequences of their use and exposure to tobacco smoke, in order to improve the health of the population.
An integral part of the process of designing a strategic platform for the control of tobacco use in Montenegro is the implementation of wider consultations, but also of society as a whole, in order to ensure the input of all relevant actors in the finalization of a comprehensive, sustainable and efficient strategic framework and action plan for the implementation of activities and presents Report of the investment study for tobacco control in Montenegro, which was created as a result of close cooperation between UNDP, the World Health Organization and with the support of the WHO Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
They state that the study represents a quantitative analysis of the economic benefits of investing in the prevention and control of the use of tobacco and tobacco products.
They add that the study vividly shows how the implementation of cost-effective policies can have significant economic benefits in the coming years, offering recommended interventions as first steps, which are adapted to the specifics of the national context, in the function of controlling tobacco use.
"The consultations were carried out as part of the Project to Support the Implementation of Obligations from the Ratified Framework Convention on the Control of Tobacco Use with the financial support of the Governments of the UK, Norway and Australia. The consultations were organized with the aim of presenting the draft Program for Controlling the Use of Tobacco Products in Montenegro, with the Action Plan 2022- 2024 and the results of the Investment Study Report for Tobacco Control in Montenegro, which was done in cooperation with the WHO and the UNDP Regional Office with the engagement of the expert team of the Institute for Public Health of Montenegro and the financial support of the WHO Secretariat of the Framework Convention," the announcement states. .
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