Health bosses want smokers to pay more for their cigarettes, but it’s still not clear how much more.
Say reports, the proposal by the DGS board of health is now with the government, which must make the final decision.
As a counter-balance, health authorities recommend a gradual fall in the price of nicotine substitutes.
Meantime, the national programme to control tobacco dependency wants studies into electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco.
Said the programme’s director Emília Nunes: “One thing is certain: they damage people’s health. But the level of harmfulness is not totally known, particularly when it comes to heated tobacco”.
As for electronic cigarettes, director Nunes said that deaths coming from these are only now coming to the notice of authorities.
