Wednesday,
January 31, 2007
Italians Smoking
More Despite Ban
The
ANNOTICO Report
However
it appears, it is Climate Change and the greater number of warmer autumn days
that allowed Italians more time outdoors where they can still smoke legally,
not their disregard for the new law.
Italians
smoking more despite national ban
REUTERS
By
Phil Stewart
January
30, 2007
Italians smoked
about 1 million kilos (2.2 million pounds) more cigarettes in 2006 than in
2005, the year
The 2006 rise,
reported this week by
It also came
despite an average 0.20 euro increase in the price of
a packet of cigarettes, according to Ref.
The study
coincided with a call from the European Union's health chief for the entire
bloc to impose smoking bans. It also prompted calls for stricter enforcement in
'Since 2005,
there has not been an educational campaign. There haven't been enough
inspections,' said former Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia, a former smoker who pushed for the national ban
under the previous centre-right government.
The study
suggested that weather, too, could have played a role, with warmer autumn
temperatures allowing Italians more time outdoors where they can still smoke
legally. Bars and restaurants have also now prepared more smoking areas
outdoors.
Health officials
say smoking kills 90,000 Italians a year. Data from the EU shows 19,000
non-smokers die from passive smoking each year in the euro
zone.
A Health Ministry
spokesman said the government was preparing a new programme
to 'encourage a more healthy lifestyle' that aimed to reduce the number of
smokers.
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ANNOTICO Reports
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