NEWS
WALES TO BE FIRST UK COUNTRY
TO BAN SMOKING OUTDOORS
PLAYGROUNDS, HOSPITAL GROUNDS AND SCHOOL
GROUNDS TO BE SMOKE-FREE BY SUMMER 2019.
Wales is set to be the first country in the UK to extend its
smoking ban to outdoor areas around schools, hospitals and
children’s play areas.
The move is aimed to de-normalise smoking for children and
young people and also to give non-smokers further protection
from second-hand smoke.
The enhanced smoking ban will make it illegal to light up in
designated outdoor areas with legal backing for fines to be
issued for ignoring the rules.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said he was proud that
Wales was at the forefront of UK action to reduce smoking
and prevent young people from taking it up in the first place.
He said: “We have seen significant changes to the attitudes to
smoking since 2007. Back then we received some resistance
to change, but we have seen a remarkable culture-change and
I am pleased our plan to extend smoke-free areas to outdoor
public spaces has received overwhelming public support.
“This is another step in the right direction to de-normalise
smoking in Wales.”
Teresa Owen, Executive Director of Public Health at Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “A hospital is no
place for smoking and the health board is determined to create
a smoke-free environment. We receive numerous complaints
about people smoking around the hospital, particularly near
the main entrance. We need to find a way of ensuring our site
is smoke free, while also supporting more patients, visitors
and staff to quit.”
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The changes to the smoke-free legislation will be introduced
under the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017, which was passed
by Assembly Members last year. The new law will impose
smoke-free areas around hospital grounds, school grounds
and playgrounds by summer 2019.
In addition, the Welsh Government’s Tobacco Control Delivery
Plan commits to helping more people to quit by encouraging
the use of integrated smoking cessations services, and
strengthening the referrals to these services, particularly for
groups with high-smoking rates.
Around 18 percent of people in Wales are smokers and public
health experts believe smoking still accounts for more than
5,000 deaths in Wales each year, around one in every six of
all deaths in people aged 35 and over. It also costs the NHS in
Wales an estimated £302m per year.
However, Simon Clark from smokers' group Forest said
smoking outdoors posed “no threat” to public health and said
that threatening hospital patients, visitors and staff with fines
was "despicable" when some of them may be at their
most vulnerable.
“PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERTS BELIEVE SMOKING
STILL ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN 5,000
DEATHS IN WALES EACH YEAR, AROUND ONE
IN EVERY SIX OF ALL DEATHS IN PEOPLE
AGED 35 AND OVER”