Almost 100 Andalucian Beaches And Municipal Pools Will Be Smoke-Free This Summer

ALMOST 100 Andalucian Beaches And Municipal Swimming Pools Will Be Smoke-Free This Summer

Jesús Aguirre, the Minister of Health and Families, this afternoon, Monday 28, congratulated the province of Huelva in joining the “Beaches Without Smoke” campaign, which now makes a total of 42 beaches in Andalucia who have entered this initiative.

The majority of beaches are in the Cadiz province, with 22, followed by Malaga with 10, Almeria with four, Huelva with four, Granada with one, and Cordoba with one inland, plus there are 50 municipal swimming pools in the scheme, 11 in Jaen, nine in Sevilla, eight in Huelva, six in Cordoba, three in Almeria, and two in Malaga, making almost 100 Andalucian beaches and municipal pools that will be free of smoking this Summer.

As Mr Aguirre pointed out, “this project aims to promote healthy habits to improve health and the quality of life, increase environmental quality, reduce pollution, and improve the image of our coasts”, with the initiative the idea of the Andalucian Network of Health Services and Smoke-Free Spaces, promoted by the General Directorate of Public Health and Pharmaceutical Management of the Ministry of Health and Families.

Any town hall in Andalucia that has a beach area can join this project by applying online, with the beaches that wish to participate then going through an evaluation and accreditation process with four levels: member, bronze, silver, and gold.

Each town hall has to assume the responsibility of implementing the necessary policies on their beaches, designed to keep them free of tobacco smoke and they must ensure adequate signage and the provision of information to users for the maintenance of the smoke-free space.

Aguirre showed his appreciation of “the great acceptance that this initiative has in our autonomous community, and that it seeks to end this unhealthy habit that kills 10,000 people a year in Andalusia”, encouraging other coastal municipalities of Andalucia to join the scheme, adding, “From the Ministry of Health and Families we work hard on the intervention, control, awareness, and sensitisation to tobacco through specific actions reflected in the Comprehensive Tobacco Plan of Andalusia (PITA)”, as reported by juntadeandalucia.es.

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