Comprehensive anti-smoking legislation adopted in Bolivia

In February 2020, Bolivian Senate President Eva Copa signed a bill to combat tobacco use. In Bolivia, approximately 22.1% of men and 12.1% of women smoke tobacco. Additionally, 46.6% of young people are exposed to second-hand smoke in indoor public places, and in 2017, more than 4,600 Bolivians died prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.[1].

The new law aims to reduce tobacco consumption and exposure. It completely and without exception bans smoking in all indoor public places. Larger graphic health warnings covering 60% the front and back of cigarette packs are imposed and restrictions are provided on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, in order to protect children and adolescents from the tobacco industry's misleading and incentivizing marketing strategies.

With the approval of this legislation in Bolivia, almost the entire South American continent has now adopted measures to ban smoking in public places. With the exception of Paraguay, these measures aim to protect more than 400 million people from the dangers of second-hand smoke and create the conditions to help smokers quit, while breaking the tobacco norm.

Such legislation is particularly based on the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It meets the objective of protecting populations and implementing measures to ensure better health for all.

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