Minister of Health Jaime Mañalich said implementation of the new law is one of the priorities of the country, since Chile has the highest rate of smoking in Latin America, with more than 40% of adults and 34% of teenagers aged 13 to 15 using tobacco.
The two-day workshop included sessions directed to municipal inspectors and representatives of the SEREMIS (Health Regional Secretariat) and designed to standardise the criteria of to be used for the inspection and evaluation of 100% smokefree spaces. Since the law went into effect on 1 March 2013, the Ministry of Health has conducted 1,600 audits and 16 sanctions.
The Minister of Health also thanked The Union for its support throughout the campaign for a smokefree Chile. The Union provided financial and technical assistance for the workshop; and experts from The Union Mexico Office, Jonathan Romo and Gustavo Soñora, were among the presenters. They shared experiences and success stories from other campaigns to establish and enforce100% smokefree places..