After February 5 this year, when the Government submitted the Law on Tobacco Control to Parliament, 1,313 people have died because of diseases caused by or associated with smoking. Representatives of civil society called on the MPs to pass the legislative changes without delay as 4,589 people die annually of smoking in Moldova, while 15% of the money for the health system is spent on treating diseases caused by cigarettes.

In a news conference at IPN, secretary general of the NGO Council Antonita Fonari said the current anti-tobacco law bans smoking in public places, but the relevant punishments were removed from it and thus the law is nonfunctional. Antonita Fonari noted that MPs promised her that the bill with amendments will be included in the Parliament’s agenda for this week, but this wasn’t done.

Doctor Ghenadie Turcanu said the number of deaths caused by illnesses associated with smoking is much higher than the number of deaths caused by road accidents. In Moldova there are 750,000 smokers and 1/3 of them will die namely of diseases caused by smoking, while the rest will poison those around. The 1 billion lei that is spent annually on the treatment of diseases caused by smoking can be invested in innovations in medicine, which can save thousands of lives if the legislation bans smoking in public places.

According to a study, 89% of the country’s population is in favor of a law that will ban smoking in public places. Ghenadie Turcanu said that a company producing boxes that would remove cigarette smoke from public places is lobbying Parliament. “These boxes are fully inefficient. For the noxious particles to be removed, a very powerful current of air is needed, which would blow out the people too. If MPs propose such an initiative, we will know that they took bribe,” stated the doctor.

Artiom Rusu, manager of a Chisinau restaurant where smoking is allowed, said he wants a law that would ban smoking in all the places. He does not smoke, but has had to work in such conditions for 10 years.  

Sergiu Cernyshev, who represents a network of cafes where smoking is banned, said that initially the clients were dissatisfied that they could not smoke, but then convinced themselves that the smell of coffee is much more pleasant than that of cigarette smoke.

Representatives of civil society did an experiment and filmed secretly a minor aged 15 purchasing alcohol and cigarettes. The mother of a minor volunteer who took part in the experiment, Silvia Apostol, said she backs the call for Parliament to pass the anti-tobacco law as she wants a healthy future for the children.

Civil society intends to stage protests in front of the Parliament Building together with children and relatives of persons affected by cigarette smoke if the anti-tobacco law is not adopted.