Smoking rate down to 8.3 percent

Turkmenistan is aiming to become a tobacco-free country by 2025, according to an AzerNews report citing a ‘Neutral Turkmenistan’ newspaper story of April 23.

The newspaper described Turkmenistan as a country that was leading the fight against tobacco use.

At 8.3 percent of the population, its smoking prevalence was already the lowest in the World Health Organization’s European Region, according to the WHO’s Turkmenistan Country Office.

Turkmenistan adopted the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on May 21, and ratified it on May 13, 2011. It entered into force on August 11, 2011.

The country adopted its National Action Plan on Tobacco Control for 2012-2016 on January 6, 2012.