Turkey's first smoke-free city announced: Complete ban in public institutions

Health Minister Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu announced that Artvin has been declared a "Smoke-Free City" as part of a pilot project. Smoking will be completely banned in all public institutions in the city, and a zero-tolerance campaign will be waged against electronic cigarettes.

"IT IS A COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH MOBILISATION COVERING ALL OF TURKEY."

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın, President of the Turkey Anti-Smoking Association (TSSD), emphasised that smoking causes serious losses not only in health but also in economic terms, and said:

"Approximately 20 billion dollars is spent on cigarettes every year. The cost of treating tobacco-related diseases accounts for 9 percent of health expenditures. The smoking age has dropped to 13. This dramatically increases the risk of disease at an early age. This picture clearly shows that social awareness in the fight against smoking needs to be raised."

Prof. Dr. Aydın made the following assessment on the subject: "This project is a health mobilisation covering all of Turkey. According to the WHO's 2024 report, approximately 8 million people worldwide die every year from tobacco-related diseases."

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