Portugal’s health director Francisco George has revealed tobacco and cigarette packaging will carry new and shocking images of the effects of smoking on smokers and those connected to them, including babies born prematurely.
The campaign is due to kick in when the cost of tobacco goes up by seven cents on May 20, he said. On the same day, Linha Saúde 24 will start a kick smoking call centre. The number to call is 808 24 24 24.
George added that World Health Organisation officials are in Lisbon this week to evaluate the risks of the propagation of yellow fever from Angola on the island of Madeira.
Angola is currently in the grip of its worst yellow fever epidemic for 30 years which has already killed 218 people.
The reason for Portugal’s concern is that Madeira has the mosquito that transmits the disease.
The Aedes aegypti is the same mosquito that carries the Zika virus, thought to be responsible for the terrible increase in babies born with encephalitis (brain abnormalities) in Brazil recently.
