Speaking to Tehran SAMA, Mehdi Golmakani said: “Following designation of Tehran as a tobacco free city, we are trying to minimize consumption se of tobacco in all public places and urban environments. For the same reason establishment of tobacco-free parks has been put on the agenda of the Health Department of Tehran Municipality. In the first stage we considered six parks as tobacco-free and after taking appropriate measures as well as the welcome accorded by citizens we increased the number of these parks to 123 in 123 areas of the city.”
Golmakani added that with favorable cooperation of municipalities in the 22 districts and Parks and Green Spaces Organization extensive measures were taken in tobacco-free parks and turned the idea into a social demand. As a result, he noted, increasing the number of these parks to 374 in the next two years was put on the agenda. “In these parks warning boards and no smoking signs have been installed and brochures, booklets and educational CDs on giving up smoking are given to people. Furthermore, advisors of health houses have been stationed in these parks to offer necessary consultations to citizens.”
He added: “We are looking for mobilizing people against smoking as an anti-value act. After studying challenges of these parks and removing weak points we would expand them to 374 parks, the same as the number of neighborhoods in Tehran.”