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Major Hospitals Ban Smoking on Grounds
March 14, 2012 Nicola  |
Seven out of eight Welsh health boards have banned smoking on their hospital grounds. Cancer charity Tenovus calls for nationwide ban.
Today most of Wales’ major hospitals have banned smoking from their grounds. Cancer charity Tenovus has called for smoking to be banned from the grounds of every hospital in Wales.
Executive director of public health, Dr Sharon Hopkins said: “We were the first Welsh Health Board to declare our entrances smoke free and make a commitment to going smoke free using a phased approach. From November 2011 we asked people to only use the smoking shelters on our sites and from No Smoking Day this year, smoking will be banned across our hospital sites.”
Although six of the seven health boards in Wales have now banned smoking from their hospital grounds, the Welsh Assembly Government has stated that it does not have the power to implement an outright smoking ban in Wales.
A spokesperson for the Welsh Assembly Government stated their ultimate aim is to provide “a smoke-free society for Wales, in which the harm from tobacco is completely eradicated”.
According to statistics from BBC Wales, around 23% of the Welsh people are smokers. The Welsh government is aiming to reduce this number to 16% by the end of the decade.
By Louisa Guise
[Image courtesy of DharmainFrisco]
