Rewarding nonsmokers

Turkey has announced new measures in the fight against smoking, including “affirmative action” for nonsmokers, reports The Daily Sabah.
A series of regulations under consideration include a 30-minute shorter shift and seven days of additional leave per year for nonsmokers, along with smaller social security contributions.
Companies with no smoking employees will be offered tax reductions and will be encouraged to hire non-smoking personnel. The government also ponders increasing child and family benefits for nonsmokers.
In addition, authorities plan to eradicate the image of smoking as normal behavior. Messages to deter smoking will be placed on website ads and ads before and during videos in video-sharing websites. Millions will also be texted about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoking.
Turkey is also considering plain packaging, which has been the subject of intense debate.
Smoking prevalence in Turkey has declined in recent years but remains high compared with other countries. The smoking rate was 31.6 percent in 2016, down from 32.5 percent in 2014.