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Government set for complete ban on smoking in public, official says

 

The government has drawn up a draft law that would ban smoking in all public places, Volha Bartman, a departmental head at the National Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health, said at a round-table conference in Minsk on September 20.

"While Presidential Decree No. 28 says that smoking in public is allowed in places specially fitted for that, the bill carries no such phrase," she said.

The new legislation is very important as it helps "people treat their and others' health more responsibly," said the expert.

Thirty percent of all cases of heart disease and cancer in Belarus are linked to smoking, said Ms. Bartman.

She added that further restrictions would be imposed on cigarette sales and cigarette prices would be increased.

Syarhey Papkow, of the Minsk city police, said that 1,275 people, including 252 under 18-year-olds, had been penalized for smoking in public places where smoking is prohibited in the first eight months of this year.

Volha Herman, a deputy departmental head at the housing ministry, said that residents of apartment houses were not allowed to smoke in the houses' hallways, stairwells and elevators. However, she added, people are allowed to smoke inside apartments and balconies. //BelaPAN