Jordi Monés explains his views on smoking to the Catalan Parliament

The Director of the Institut de la Màcula, Dr. Jordi Monés, appeared before the Health Commission of the Catalan Parliament last Thursday to give his expert opinion of tobacco smoking. Dr Monés, who is a member of the Board of Directors of FC Barcelona and a Commissioner of the Barça Innovation Hub, was responsible for a pioneering initiative in Spain that banned smoking from the club’s facilities in 2012. The Catalan Parliament has shown interest in this initiative as it readies a new update to Law 28/2005 on smoking prevention which it hopes will go further in the designation of smoke-free zones. The Health Commission believes that FC Barcelona’s experience sets a fine example.

Dr Monés provided the Commission with figures on the impact of tobacco smoke on health. In particular, he said that passive smokers double their risk of suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) compared to those who are not exposed to tobacco smoke. The Director of the Institut de la Màcula stated that «there is no doubt» about the damage tobacco causes to eyes: it is estimated that smoking is solely responsible for 1 in every 4 cases of AMD and severe vision loss.

That Thursday, Dr. Monés also addressed the ceremony of the Classe sense fum (Smoke-Free Class) Awards 2016/17. Coordinated by the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT), this is a programme that aims to prevent pupils of 12 to 14 years old from smoking, or at least to delay this for as long as possible. The project forms part of the European initiative Smoke-Free Class, which has been scientifically validated in a number of epidemiological studies and has been in operation in Barcelona since 1997.

Photo: Jordi Play - FCB