On World Non-Smoker Day, experts argue that Portugal should move towards neutral packaging as recommended by the World Health Organization.Smokers consume 16 cigarettes a day and tax earns the State 1.5 billion a year.At a time when smokers are still getting used to the shock images on tobacco packs and Parliament is appreciating the proposal to extend the smoking ban to five meters from schools and hospitals, experts in tobacco prevention argue that Portugal should go further far and move towards neutral packaging, without the brand logo, as England and France have already done.If the proposal goes ahead, smokers will have to get used to buying packs without the brands that differentiate them today being visible on the packaging.This is another measure designed to combat smoking, at a time when in Portugal, despite increasing legislative restrictions, tobacco consumption has decreased by less than one percentage point in nine years and smokers consume around 16 cigarettes a day.This year, the State is expected to collect 1.5 billion euros from the tobacco tax.It was the World Health Organization (WHO) that formally recommended in May that countries adopt the so-called plain packaging.Those responsible for the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) are in favour, but the priority at the moment is to get the new proposal to amend the tobacco law approved in Parliament, where a working group is preparing to consider it, after have gone down without a vote to the specialty committee and deserved criticism from several deputies.“This goes through political decisions”, argues the director of the National Program for the Prevention and Control of Tobacco use of the DGS, Emília Nunes, who recognizes the fundamentals “in favor” of neutral or standardized packs, despite remembering that the proposal “has not yet was placed on the table” in Portugal.“We have lagged far behind in tobacco control policies, we are just complying with what is mandatory.The plain packaging recommended by the WHO has a much greater effect [than the current shock images] because it almost completely eliminates advertising on the packaging", defends Hilson da Cunha Filho, from the Portuguese Confederation for the Prevention of Tobacco. In 2012, Australia was pioneer in advancing this measure and packaging began to display only images and warnings and advertising references to brands disappeared.In Portugal, it is not possible for the time being to assess the impact of shock images, not least because companies benefit from a transitional period (they have until May 2017 to adopt the measure) and the available data (from the Tax and Customs Authority) only reflect the placing tobacco products on the market, not corresponding to the cigarettes actually consumed.What is known is that, between January and October, around 8.8 billion cigarettes entered the national market, 12% more than in the same period in 2015. Roughly, it is close to 16 cigarettes per day per smoker. , average.The numbers from the last National Health Survey (from 2014 but released at the end of last year) indicate this.The prevalence of smokers (20% of the population aged 15 years and over) decreased slightly compared to 2005/2006 (it was then 20.9%).That is, less than one percentage point in nine years, despite more restrictive legislation, price increases and campaigns against smoking, which was associated with 33 deaths per day in 2013.What can also be seen is that, while the number of ex-smokers grew, over this period, the percentage of non-smokers decreased (from 62.9% to 58.2%), as consumption increased among young people.This is what worries tobacco prevention experts.“Adolescents start experimenting with tobacco later (around 14 years old, when it was 12 years old), but many become regular users at 18”, laments Hilson Cunha Filho.That's why the adoption of neutral packaging is so important, he emphasizes.The aim is "to make tobacco packs as unattractive as possible," he says.While the siege on smokers continues to tighten, the tobacco industry adapts to the new reality, launching new products, as happened with the tobacco company, which has been on the market for months with the so-called heatsticks, a kind of cigarette that is inserted into a pen to inspire and make steam at low temperatures.Heatsticks are equated with other tobacco products in the proposal that is in Parliament, similar to electronic cigarettes, which makes sense, according to Hilson Cunha Filho, as "there is still no independent scientific assessment of their effects".Regarding the available figures, an official source from Tabaqueira explained to PÚBLICO that “the last few years have shown a trend towards greater consumption of products in lower price categories”. uniform dimensions, health warnings of excessive dimensions", in addition to "disposal restrictions at points of sale".In Parliament, the proposal for a law that seeks to prohibit smoking outside schools and hospitals and on playgrounds has been passed to the specialist committee without a vote and a working group is being set up to examine it and propose amendments, which should only happen in December.Read the articles you want, until the end, without advertisingBe part of the most informed community in the countryBe the first to comment.Choose one of the following topics to create a group on the Public Forum.When you create a new discussion group, you will become an administrator and will be responsible for moderating that group.PÚBLICO journalists can always intervene.Learn more about the Public Forum.By activating this option, you will receive an email whenever new posts are made in this discussion group.@ 2022 PÚBLICO Comunicação Social SATo allow notifications, follow the instructions:These are the authors and topics you chose to follow.You can enable or disable notifications.Receive notifications when we publish a text by this author or on the topics of this article.These are the authors and topics you chose to follow.You can enable or disable notifications.To allow notifications, follow the instructions: