Smoking is considered a primary risk factor for non communicable diseases - and that's why the Ministry of Health is proudly rallying around the Tobacco Control Bill of 2025. Dr Melissa Diaz gave an update on the bill - which has already gone to the house for a first reading and is scheduled to have second and third readings next week.
Dr. Melissa Diaz Musa, Director Public Health & Wellness, MOHW
"We are in the process of trying to successfully pass our Belize National Tobacco bill, Tobacco Control Bill 2025 and we know that this bill is an excellent bill we know that it is a strong bill and it is a bill that will make a difference to the public health of our population so we are asking for the general population to support this bill and we know that substances like tobacco and alcohol that are legal substances will be used but it should be regulated the same way that we regulate when you have a car and you need to have a driver's license to drive you need to wear your seat belt you need to follow the rules of the road. This is the same way that we intend to regulate the use of Tobacco and alcohol in order to reduce the public health issues we are having from them."
And while the Bill is progressive, in a jarring contradiction we must note that due to the Tobacco trade coming out of the northern and western free zones - Belize is the number one tobacco importer on all of Central America and it feeds cheapChinese cigarettes into Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala through legal and illegal crossings.
