“The Government will announce a very ambitious agenda of measures to help those who want to quit smoking”, said Manuel Pizarro, who was speaking to journalists at the end of a visit to the expansion and requalification works of a building at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology (IPO) from Coimbra.

According to the minister, the objective is to “try to ensure that there are medicines that can be reimbursed to help people stop smoking”.

In addition to this measure, the Government also intends to “increase consultation sites” and intensify consultations in the workplace, he said.

Tobacco Law

Manuel Pizarro was speaking about the revision of the Tobacco Law, which will be debated this week in the Assembly of the Republic, considering that the proposal on the table involves clarifying that smoking is prohibited in all enclosed spaces and making products similar to tobacco equivalent, among other measures.

The Government's proposal equates electronic cigarettes to normal tobacco and creates restrictions on sale and consumption, namely the extension of the ban on smoking outdoors within the perimeter of places accessible to the public for collective use (such as health facilities or schools).

Despite a reduction in smokers since the approval of the Tobacco Law in 2007, there are still “17% of Portuguese people who continue to smoke”, he noted, considering that in terms of preventing oncological diseases, “nothing is more important than combating the tobacco".