Friday, 11 November 2011

Fifty-Fifth Sitting of the Committee on Health and the Family

The Committee on Health and the Family held a sitting on 11 November 2011 to debate the current problems in the anti-tobacco struggle.


The sitting was held on the occasion of the visit of Haik
Nikogosian, Head of the Secretariat of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The sitting was attended by Minister of Health Prof. Dr Zoran Stankovic, representatives of the Republic of Serbia Council for Tobacco Control, Republican Expert Commission for the Prevention of Smoking of the Ministry of Health and Tobacco Control Office at the “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut” Public Health Institute of Serbia.

Minister of Health Prof. Dr Zoran Stankovic stressed how important the visit of Dr Nikogosian was for Serbia, emphasising his contribution to the development of tobacco control policy in Europe. The adoption of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control under the patronage of the United Nations in 2003, which was ratified in Serbia in 2005 and came into force in 2006, is particularly important for the global anti-tobacco struggle.

Dr Nikogosian commended the adoption of the Law on Protection of Citizens from Tobacco Smoke Exposure in 2010, highlighting Serbia’s role in the global anti-tobacco struggle.

The representatives of the Commission for the Prevention of Smoking of the Ministry of Health Dr Srmena Krstev and Dr Natasa Lazarevic and the representative of the Tobacco Control Office at the “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut” Public Health Institute of Serbia Andjelka Dzeletovic presented the activities implemented in the fight against tobacco in Serbia within their respective purviews.

In the ensuing debate the Committee members agreed that, in the year after the adoption of the Law on Protection of Citizens from Tobacco Smoke Exposure, progress has been made in the struggle against tobacco and tobacco smoke. However, the availability and low price of cigarettes, as well as the lack of strict control of the purchase of cigarettes by minors still present a problem for Serbia’s struggle against tobacco, concluded the Committee members.

The sitting was chaired by Dr Simo Vukovic, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Health and the Family.


Committees related to this activity



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friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

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