A statement issued this Tuesday by the Political Table of the Broad Front calls for the repeal of Decree 282/22, which was signed by President Luis Lacalle Pou, after a request made by the tobacco company Monte Paz to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM).
“The fight to combat tobacco consumption has been a State policy that began to be implemented in 2004 when the approval of the Framework Agreement for Tobacco Control was voted, and has been consolidated with a sustained effort by the following governments” , begins by saying the declaration of the left political force.
“For many years, Uruguay knew how to be at the forefront of this fight and faced important challenges, such as the business lobby or the pressure of multinational tobacco companies that tried to impose their private and commercial interests over the defense of the health of Uruguayans. ”, he adds.
For the FA, the success of the anti-tobacco policies, dating back to the three leftist governments, are in the “cultural change and the discouragement of consumption that it generated in the population”, which was achieved from “an anti-tobacco policy that banned smoking in closed spacestook the sale of cigarettes out of sight and demanded the neutral labeling”.
They denounce pressure
In the document, the FA goes on to express its concern about the change in direction represented by the relaxation made by Lacalle Pou, since “The Executive Branch admits giving in to corporatist pressure from a tobacco company, to the detriment of the health care of Uruguayan women and men.”
Furthermore, the opposition party believes that this executive decision is a “International discredit that our country generates for having adopted measures in the opposite direction to the defense of public health.”
Finally, the FA joined the request of the scientific community to repeal Decree 282/22.
