The Ministry of Health is openly lobbying for a cigarette manufacturer, arguing that devices would be less harmful for health
Elena Cioina
14 decembrie, 2018, 11:18
Vizualizări: 3929
Tobacco control legislation will undergo further changes. The Ministry of Health launches public debates on a draft decision favoring the entering on the market of heated tobacco products, although such a notion is not regulated in the Tobacco Control Act.
The amendments are to modify
two sanitary regulations - one referring to notification and reporting
of information on tobacco products and tobacco-related products, and another -
on selling of unfermented and fermented tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco-related
products. In fact, the heat-not-burn tobacco products that have been strongly
promoted in Moldova in recent months, are the iQOS devices manufactured by
Philip Morris.
The document,
according to the information note, is drafted by the Ministry of Health, Labor
and Social Protection, which, among other things, expressly proposes that the
market in Moldova should favor heated tobacco products.
Ministry of Health comes
up with quite odd arguments on harm-reduction,
with claims that "the possibility to introduce heat-not-burn tobacco products on the market of the
Republic of Moldova and switch from
smoking tobacco products to
heat-not-burn tobacco products can help solve (in part) the health
issues mentioned above."
In other words, the Ministry of Health suggests that regulating the heat-not-burn tobacco products would prevent a series of chronic diseases that are now caused by smoking conventional cigarettes. Among the diseases mentioned to be prevented by switching to heated tobacco products are cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, destructive lung diseases, atherosclerosis, etc.
The
Ministry of Health explains that, compared to conventional cigarettes producing
smoke, which at the time of inhalation reaches the temperature of 900 degrees,
heat-not-burn tobacco products heat the holders with compressed tobacco and
releases vapor, which is deemed as a less harmful
alternative for users.
Andrei Svet opened the document once again a week later, on December 10, when it was placed on the www.particip.gov.md for public debates. It is not clear why this document was developed by the Legal Department of the Ministry of Health and not the Public Health Policy Department.
Asked by Sanatate
INFO, Andrei Svet refused to answer the questions saying that he was not
empowered to speak on the subject with the press, unless he received permission
from the Ministry’s authorities.
“I
believe that you are acquainted with the law and know that civil servants may speak
only if empowered, otherwise all the issues are discussed with media service. I
have no authority to speak on this subject. Submit an official request and we
will respond to you, "said the legal expert Andrei Svet.
By the time the news were
release, none of the Ministry of Health officials had offered any response on
the mentioned draft law. Off record, some of them expressed their regret that
the Ministry is promoting such a document."
In fact, the draft law
that gives green light to selling and promoting heat-not-burn tobacco products
is signed by Silvia Radu, the Minister of Health, Victoria Iftodi, the Minister
of Justice and Tudor Ulianivschi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European
Integration.
Before being assigned
to the position of the Minister of Health, Silvia Radu was in close touch with
the business world. According to her resume published on the State Chancellery
website, during 2006-2010 the present state official was among the founders and
members of the Administration Council of the American Chamber of Commerce of
Moldova (AMCHAM). The Association is one of the key promoters of tobacco industry's
interests in the country.
Also, the current Minister was the founding President of EBA (European Business
Association in the Republic of Moldova) from 2011 until 2016 .
This is not the first time when the Ministry of Health avoid to take a firm stance against placing on the market of tobacco products that affect human health. Amid last summer, when world governments asked Philip Morris to stop promoting its iQOS products, the Ministry of Health in Chisinau was merely warning us that the products posed a risk to health.
The Ministry of
Health's actions regarding compliance with the Tobacco Control Act are becoming
increasingly inconsistent, and make it clear that the documents targeting the
tobacco industry are developed outside the institution and by people interested
in tobacco business.
IQOS devices entered
the Moldovan market after the MPs voted in 2017, alongside with other
documents, amendments to anti-tobacco law. The hands raised in favor of law
amendments belonged including to those
who publicly declared themselves to be smoke-free promoters. The amendments
were then proposed by Democrat MP, Corneliu Dudnic. In a telephone message sent
to Sanatate INFO, he suggested that he had proposed the changes to the law at
the request of his party leader, Vlad Plahotniuc.
Tag: Ministry of Health, lobby, cigarette manufacturer
Categoria: Știri Interne
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