Smoking in Armenia
Armenian Parliament Approves Gradual Ban On Indoor Smoking
Փետրվար 13, 2020
Robert Zargarian
Armenia’s parliament voted on Tuesday to accept a government proposal to gradually ban smoking in cafes, restaurants and all other indoor public places in the country.
Under a government bill passed in the second and final reading by 76 votes to 16 with 7 abstentions, Armenians will also not be allowed to smoke while driving cars or buses. In addition, the bill imposes a blanket ban on any form of tobacco advertising.
Indoor smoking will be punishable by up fines ranging from 50,000 drams ($105) to 200,000 drams.
The bill was drafted by the Ministry of Health and submitted to the Armenian government for approval one year ago. It underwent some changes before being approved by the National Assembly in the first reading in December. In particular, it was decided that the ban on smoking in cafes and restaurants will come into force in March 2022.
Deputies representing the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) voted against the final version of the bill, saying that it will hurt many businesses. One of them, Gevorg Gorgisian, argued that Armenia’s leading cigarette manufacturer, the Grand Tobacco company, is now the country’s number one corporate taxpayer.
“Let’s develop other sectors of the economy before starting to hit this one,” Gorgisian said during a parliament debate that preceded the vote.
Deputy Health Minister Lena Nanushian, who presented the bill to lawmakers, dismissed such arguments.
“Ten percent of annual deaths [in Armenia] result from smoking,” said Nanushian. “This 10 percent is a serious figure, my dear deputies: every year 3,000 people die as a result of smoking.”
Armenia is a nation of heavy smokers with few restrictions on tobacco sales and use enforced to date. According to Ministry of Health estimates, 52 percent of Armenian men are regular smokers. Medics blame this for a high incidence of lung cancer among them. The smoking rate among women is much lower.
Nanushian also warned of health risks posed by passive smoking when she spoke in the parliament in December. Citing surveys conducted in 2016 and 2017, she said that more than 70 percent of pregnant women in the country are “exposed to secondhand smoke every day.”
Source: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30432727.html
Armenian Health Ministry Seeks Heavy Fines For Smoking
Հունվար 29, 2018 Anush Muradian
The Armenian Ministry of Health has drafted a bill that would introduce a blanket ban on smoking in cafes, restaurants and other public places and impose heavy fines on people violating it.
The bill posted on a government website is part of the ministry’s efforts to reduce the large number smokers in Armenia blamed by medics for the country’s high incidence of lung cancer.
According to ministry estimates, 55 percent of Armenian men are regular smokers. The smoking rate among women in the socially conservative society is much lower: 3 percent. It is considerably higher in Yerevan where around 10 percent of women aged between 30 and 40 are tobacco addicts.
The Armenian authorities already took a set of anti-smoking measures over a decade ago. A special law that came into force in 2005 banned smoking in hospitals, cultural and educational institutions and public buses. Additional restrictions introduced a year later required other entities, including bars and restaurants, to allow smoking only in special secluded areas. But with no legal sanctions put in place against their violation, those measures have proved largely ineffectual.
The new bill would extend the ban to cafes, bars, restaurants, government offices and even elevators. People caught smoking there would be fined 250,000 drams ($520), a figure exceeding the average monthly salary in the country. A repeat offense detected within three months would carry an even heavier fine: 500,000 drams.
Smoking inside public buses or minibuses and even at bus stops would be punishable by 100,000 drams. The fine for smoking bus drivers would be set at only 50,000 drams.
The bill, which the Ministry of Health has submitted to the Armenian cabinet for approval, also calls for some restrictions on sales of cigarettes and a ban on any form of tobacco advertising. Armenian TV and radio stations were banned from airing cigarette ads several years ago.
People randomly interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in Yerevan on Monday generally approved of the proposed anti-smoking measures, while objecting to the proposed amount of fines.
“It’s definitely about health and it’s is very good,” said one smoking man.
“In my view, it’s the right thing to do,” agreed another male smoker. “But how are they going to enforce the fines? The figure is too high. But I think they would be right to fine people.”
“Let them fine smokers. The state will get richer,” another Yerevan resident commented with sarcasm.
A middle-aged minibus driver criticized the proposed penalty for fellow drivers smoking at the wheel.“Fining is a wrong solution,” he said. “In this nervous job, people smoke to calm their nerves.”
Anti-Smoking Measures Planned In Armenia
Հունիս 01, 2017
Naira Bulghadarian
The Armenian Ministry of Health has called for a legal ban on smoking in public places and a sharp rise in the prices of cigarettes, citing the need to reduce the large number of smokers in Armenia.
Health Minister Levon Altunian unveiled on Wednesday a new “anti-tobacco strategy” drafted by his staff and submitted to the government for approval.He said a corresponding government bill will likely be sent to the Armenian parliament in November.
“Armenians are a law-abiding nation,” Altunian told a news conference. “Armenians like novelties. Armenians like being healthy and successful.”
“I am convinced that we will succeed in defeating this evil,” he said. “The best way to do that is to target [smokers’] pockets, rather than minds.”
Under the ministry proposals, excise duties levied from cigarettes would be raised by 15 percent annually from 2017 through 2021. The government would also prohibit smoking in government and private offices, as well as all restaurants, cafes and bars. The owners of such businesses failing to comply with the ban would be fined an equivalent of as much as $10,000.
“It all boils down to this: if you want to smoke, go out, smoke and come back,” said Aleksandr Bazarchian, the director of the government-funded National Institute of Healthcare. “Nobody is telling people not to smoke.”
The ministry is also seeking a complete ban on all forms of tobacco advertising. Armenian TV and radio stations were banned from airing such commercials years ago.
According to ministry estimates, 55 percent of Armenian men are regular smokers. The smoking rate among women in the socially conservative society is much lower: 3 percent. It is considerably higher in Yerevan where around 10 percent of women aged between 30 and 40 are tobacco addicts.
The Armenian authorities already took a set of anti-smoking measures over a decade ago. A special law that came into force in 2005 banned smoking in hospitals, cultural and educational institutions and public buses. Additional restrictions introduced a year later required other entities, including bars and restaurants to allow smoking only in special secluded areas. But with no legal sanctions put in place against their violation, those measures proved largely ineffectual.
Skeptics are now questioning the authorities’ ability and willingness to enforce the new and tougher measures advocated by the Ministry of Health. Babken Pipoyan, who heads a non-governmental consumer right group, is worried that some restaurants may be allowed to flout the smoking ban and thus gain an unfair competitive edge.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/28523323.html
The Problem of Smoking in Armenia
by Hagop Panossian, ARPA Institute
ANN/Groong January 17, 2006
A new law on restricting the sale, consumption and use of tobacco products in the Republic of Armenia (RA) was in force on March 2, 2005. It prohibits smoking in any public transport system, and in all cultural, educational and health institutions. The National Assembly of RA passed the law after it was twice rejected by the lawmakers, some of whom are the biggest cigarette producers and importers in RA. The same parliament also ratified the European Union's Framework Convention on Tobacco control (FCTC). One of the requirements of FCTC is to implement the rule of the World Health Organization that requires warning labels on cigarette packs. The latter part of the law will become mandatory in 2008 and cigarette advertising will be outlawed by 2010.
According to recent statistics more than 70 percent of men in RA are smokers, a higher percentage than any country in Europe. The number of women and especially teenage smokers has registered an increase in recent years, as has the production and import of cigarettes in RA. According to official figures, around 1.7 billion cigarettes were imported into RA in 2004.
Recent efforts to reduce tobacco use and the exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in Armenia are encouraging. These efforts will hopefully be fruitful. For, it is well known that if smoking does not start during adolescence, it is unlikely ever to occur. It is also known that the probability of cessation among adults is inversely related to age at initiation. Even infrequent experimental smoking in adolescence significantly increases the risk of adult smoking. Once smoking has begun, cessation is difficult and smoking is likely to be a long-term addiction. The duration of smoking is 16 and 20 years for 50% of the smokers. Hence, prevention on the onset of adolescent smoking is an essential component of efforts to reduce smoking and its attendant morbidity and mortality in Armenia.
The often cited most important factors contributing to smoking are: age, gender, ethnicity and acculturation, living arrangements, family size and structure, parental socioeconomic status, spending money and employment status, and rural/urban residence. Stress and the associated distress or depression could also be important factors in the initiation of smoking. Other factors that have been consistently associated with smoking are self-esteem and personal health concerns. Smoking among adolescents typically rise with increasing age and grade level in school. Adolescents who begin smoking at a younger age are more likely to become regular smokers and less likely to quit smoking. Individuals who adopt a healthy lifestyle and understand its implications tend to stay away from smoking, drinking and other addictions. Young people in Armenia are virtually unaware of the health risks of the use of tobacco and alcohol.
ARPA Institute is proud to have initiated the Health Education and Lifestyle program (HELP) in 1998. The health risks in smoking, excessive drinking, substance and drug abuse, unhealthy diets as well as the benefits of healthy diets, exercise and a positive attitude in life have been taught to over 10,000 adolescent students in RA during the past 7 years. The Government of Armenia, the Ministry of Education and Science (MES), recently started to implement their version of health education and lifestyle in 16 schools this year and 125 schools next academic year. The Executive Director of ARPA, Hovsep Seferian, is working with the MES and the American University of Armenia (AUA) to implement and enhance this program and to develop a publicity campaign that will utilize the media, will organize public gatherings and publications to try to motivate the youth to say no to smoking and to be aware of the above mentioned health risks. A new video has been developed, with the help of Kapriel Panossian, that will air on TV during the New Year and will make the public aware about the health risks of smoking. The HELP course is being taught in 21 schools in Stepanakert and Shushi in Karabagh since last year and Mr.& Mrs. Anivian are the sponsors for the program. The Board of Directors of ARPA is grateful for their support.
We would appreciate any inputs or assistance from the readers of this article and the community at large. Please help us raise the longevity of the population of RA. The economic impact of early death due to preventable health risks is staggering. Armenia needs a great deal of help to get to a level of economic and political strength in par with Europe. Please help us help our compatriots.
Hagop Panossian <hpanossian@hotmail.com> Web: http://www.arpainstitute.org/
ARMENIA RANKS SIXTH FOR NUMBER OF SMOKERS: WHO REPORT
YEREVAN, August 9 /ARKA/. Armenia ranks sixth for the number of smokers in the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports on the basis of the information for 2002-2006. According to the report, about 64% of the adult Armenian population smokes.
The WHO reports that Mongolia ranks first in this list, where 67.8% of the adult population smokes. China is among the five heaviest countries smokers (66.9%), Kenya (66.8%), Cambodia (66%) and Namibia (65%). Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan rank 13th and 14th (60%), Belarus – 23rd (54.9%), Ukraine and Lithuania – 30th and 31st (51.1%), Latvia and Uzbekistan – 35th and 36th (49%). Estonia ranks 47th (44%), Azerbaijan – 85th (32%), and Turkmenistan – 95th (27%). R.O. –0--
FORTY FIVE DRIVERS FIRED BECAUSE OF SMOKING
Panorama.am 18:55 06/08/2007
Forty-five mini bus drivers have been sacked in the course of this year because of smoking. Citizens have made about 350 calls at hot line 39-16-53 announced by municipality. All drivers were punished, Karen Yedigaryan, Director of Yerevantrans, told a briefing today.
In his words, drivers who are dismissed for smoking cannot work in the same field. As the first warning, drivers are notified followed by a fine of 25,000 drams and a dismissal.