שיחות לעשן חינם פורטוגל

In a joint statement, the various organisations, joined by the hotel, tourism, restaurant and similar industry workers' union in the North, point out that "no air renewal/extraction, ventilation or compartmentalization/separation of spaces is effective to eliminate tobacco smoke and/or ensure indoor air quality".

"The science is clear that ventilation systems, smoking rooms and smoking areas/sections do not protect against the health hazards caused by secondhand smoke. The only known way to reduce the risks associated with secondhand smoke is with 100% smoke free environments", insists the group of organizations, which integrates the Portuguese societies of dentistry and occupational medicine.

Also signed by patient associations such as Respira and the Ordem dos Farmacêuticos, as well as by Brazilian and Spanish organizations, the statement calls on the owners and managers of these spaces to become “totally free of tobacco smoke and aerosols from electronic devices”.

"This exposure is harmful from the point of view of promoting and protecting health, not only due to the potentially present smoke, but also because it normalizes and promotes the consumption of tobacco and electronic nicotine devices", say the organizations.

In the note released today, the Portuguese Society of Pneumology also appeals to the Portuguese population not to frequent spaces that could provide the presence of tobacco smoke or aerosols from electronic cigarettes and to "exercise their right and duty of citizenship, expressing their displeasure at living with such situations in spaces that they would like to frequent as smoke-free".

They also call for the reporting of cases of violations of the tobacco smoke protection law.

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