Ahead of World No Tobacco Day next Sunday, May 31, The Union has today publicly advocated for the prohibition of the sale of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), which are home to more than 80 percent of the world’s smokers. The Union’s support of the ban is based on the release today of its new position paper, ‘Where bans are best: Why LMICs must prohibit e-cigarettes and heated tobacco product sales to truly tackle tobacco’.

In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Smoke Free Life Coalition expresses deep concern for the health of people in Bulgaria who consume tobacco products.

Smoking remains the leading preventable risk factor for the spread of non-communicable diseases worldwide. Cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, respiratory tract infections, acute respiratory distress syndrome are much more common in smokers and secondhand smokers. In those diseases, the immune system is more compromised. The World Health Organization warns that pre-existing conditions may complicate the course of COVID-19.

The Federation of the Scientific Engineering Unions, the Union of Economists in Bulgaria and the Smoke Free Life Coalition are happy to invite research and analysis authors, representatives of national and international institutions and non-governmental organizations to participate in an international scientific-practical conference "Raising the excise duties on tobacco and related products and limiting their illicit trade as part of policies to improve public health in Bulgaria". The conference will take place on December 4, Wednesday, from 10:00 to 16:00, in the FSEU building in Sofia. Experts involved in these areas are invited to send abstracts by November 20, 2019.

On July 11, 2019 members of the Bulgarian parliament banned the selling of any type of tobacco products to children. The National Assembly, however, rejected the proposed Ban on smoking water pipes indoors, while more decisive proposals to improve the country’s existing smoking ban were withdrawn earlier.

Changes in the Transitional and Final Provisions of the  Health Act enact a ban on the sale and supply to children of: electronic cigarettes; refill containers; liquids containing nicotine; smoking articles other than tobacco; and water pipe products, not containing tobacco. 

Earlier in the procedure proposals for decisive legal changes which smoking opponents believe could have significantly improved control and enforcement of the Total Smoking Ban in public places were withdrawn by their proponent - chair of the parliamentary group of the ruling party GERB - Dr. Daniela Daritkova, before they were considered by the Parliament’s Health Committee. Daritkova is also the Committee’s chair.