Last year, the state implemented only three out of a total of 26 tasks in the fight against the use of tobacco products.
This is shown by the report on the implementation of the Action Plan for the Control of Tobacco Use, which confirms that the competent institutions have done almost none of the planned measures in this area, as 88,5 percent of the activities have not been implemented.
According to the report, the only activities that have been implemented are those related to the establishment and session of the National Tobacco Control Commission and a proposal for amendments to the Law on Restricting the Use of Tobacco Products has been drafted.
However, key activities in the fight against smoking have been missing - a pilot program for quitting tobacco use through brief interventions has not been implemented, a program for quitting has not been established in population counseling centers at Health Centers, and staff have not been educated for this type of service.
The Ministry of Health and the Institute of Public Health (IJZ) have not purchased equipment for an accredited laboratory for testing the safety of tobacco products, nor have they provided the technical conditions for its establishment, nor have they assessed the health risk to the population based on data obtained from human biomonitoring. The report states that the IJZ, the Ministry and the National Commission have not informed the public through the media about the toxic ingredients of tobacco and emissions from tobacco products.
According to the report, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI), the Institute for Education, the Center for Vocational Education and the Institute of Public Health failed to even develop a training program for primary and secondary school teachers on the topic of preventing the use of tobacco products last year.
The report, prepared by the Directorate of Public Health and Biomedicine of the Ministry of Health, recalls that tobacco use is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer and several other chronic diseases.
"The current situation regarding the use of tobacco products in Montenegro and the negative impact on human health, society and the environment requires the implementation of strong corrective measures. Tobacco consumption among adults and young people in Montenegro is high (According to the Survey on the Quality of Life, Lifestyles and Health Risks of the Population of Montenegro from 2017, the proportion of smokers in the general population is 35,4 percent, which is significantly higher than the European population)," states the document adopted by the Government.
The report states that the results of the implementation of the Action Plan for 2024 indicate a significant challenge in implementing activities, since out of a total of 26 planned tasks, only three have been implemented:
"This level of implementation clearly shows that there are systemic obstacles that need to be urgently addressed in order to achieve the desired goals in controlling the use of tobacco products and protecting public health in Montenegro."
Head of the World Health Organization office Dr. Mina Brajovic In a recent interview with "Vijesti", she said that Montenegro needs to "produce" advanced solutions that will include a ban on smoking in public places, a complete ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, uniform and standardized packaging for all tobacco and nicotine products, support for quitting, and strong excise taxes, in order to successfully tackle tobacco use as the leading cause of premature mortality.
She also recalled the alarming data on smoking in Montenegro.
"Tobacco products that are smoked, including water pipes, contain more than 7.000 chemicals, at least 250 of which are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. Chewing tobacco also causes serious, sometimes fatal, health conditions. The tobacco industry does not produce ordinary consumer goods - it sells products designed to create and maintain addiction, and kill up to half of users who do not stop using them. These products contain nicotine, an addictive substance, as well as numerous toxic chemicals that affect almost every organ in the human body and have a detrimental effect on health throughout life. On average, lifelong smokers lose at least 10 years of life," Brajović pointed out, warning that tobacco use in 2021 was responsible for 15,4 percent of all deaths in men and 4,7 percent in women in the WHO European Region.
According to WHO estimates from 2022, 32 percent of adults in Montenegro use tobacco, which significantly exceeds the average for the European region (25,3 percent) and the global average (20,9 percent). According to data from the Investment Study for Tobacco Control in Montenegro, published in 2024, more than 2.000 Montenegrin citizens die each year from diseases related to tobacco use, which accounts for 30 percent of all deaths in the country.
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