Tobacco

Electronic cigarettes and novel tobacco products have been around for more than a decade as alternatives to cigarette smoking, which kills nearly 700,000 people in the EU every year. However, they remain a controversial issue and the EU is still hesitant about how to treat them legally.

Port of Bar in Montenegro. Photo: Government of Montenegro

"Our international partners' reports have expressed concern over the large volume of illegal transit and illegal placing on the market of tobacco products on the territory of Montenegro. They also emphasize that activities in the Port of Bar indicate the existence of security risks," the government said.

The European Commission is calling for stricter actions on tobacco regulations in a bid to have a tobacco-free generation in the EU by 2040. However, the global number of smokers continues to grow.

This yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.

Electronic cigarettes and novel tobacco products have been around for more than a decade as alternatives to cigarette smoking, which kills nearly 700,000 people in the EU every year. However, they remain a controversial issue and the EU is still hesitant about how to treat them legally.

Around 17 million people among Turkey's population of 83 million still smoke despite years-long efforts to discourage people from smoking, an expert said on National No-Smoking Day on Feb. 9.

But Murat Ağırtaş, the provincial health director of the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale, said Turkey dropped in the ranking of a list of heavy-smoker countries.

"Our world changes when each one of us changes for the better," Papastratos believes. The fact that they were recently awarded as one of the world-changing companies, in the annual "Change The World" survey, certifies that these are not just words, but that they put into practice their commitment to a sustainable, cigarette-free world.

A study by the National Patients' Organization has found out that 59% of Bulgarians between the age of 19 and 64 are smokers.

Almost all respondents smoke cigarettes and very few use smokeless tobacco or e-cigarettes.

According to the study, 44% of smokers do not intend to change their bad habit, while another 41% plan to reduce smoking.

Tobacco kills more than 8 million people globally every year. More than 7 million of these deaths are from direct tobacco use and around 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

New anti-smoking laws have come into force banning the sale of flavoured and skinny cigarettes in UK stores.

The move is part of efforts to deter young people from using menthol cigarettes as they are thought to mistakenly believe the flavoured characteristic makes the habit less harmful.