Frances Fitzgerald
Question:98 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children his policy with regard to halting the increase in number of young women smoking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17870/00]
Written Answers. - Anti-Smoking Campaign.
The health promotion unit of my Department supports an extensive range of anti-smoking initiatives. The most recent anti-smoking campaign Break the Habit for Good emphasises the positive effects which quitting smoking can have on the individual and was launched in December 1998 in association with the Irish Cancer Society. The campaign involves national and local initiatives which offer support for those people wishing to give up smoking.
In relation specifically to younger people and young girls, the health promotion unit of my Department has co-ordinated two school programmes which seek to prevent young people taking up smoking in the first instance. The smoking reduction action programme – SCRAP – is a peer led anti-smoking programme for schools which was developed by my Department in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society, the National Youth Federation and with support from the Department of Education and Science. The smokebusters project, which is aimed at primary school children aged seven to 11 years in an urban environment, was developed by the Irish Cancer Society, the Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science and the Eastern Health Board.
Acting against smoking also continues at health board level and in the voluntary sector. The Eastern Regional Health Authority, in association with the health promotion unit of my Department, on 22 May launched a teenage anti-smoking campaign aimed specifically at young girls. This is a high profile multi-media campaign incorporating television, posters and print media, encouraging young girls to quit smoking. The provision of special support services through the national Quitline, which is run from the Irish Cancer Society, is another important component of this campaign.
Both Building Healthier Hearts and Towards a Tobacco Free Society highlighted the importance of discouraging children and young girls from taking up the habit of tobacco use and of helping those who have started to quit. I brought forward a composite Health Bill, which among other things, will raise the age limit at which tobacco products can be sold to people from 16 to 18 years and increase fines for those convicted of an offence from £500 to £1,500, the maximum amount allowable for this type of offence. The Bill has passed all Stages in the Seanad.
It is now appropriate to carry out a comprehensive review of all legislation in the area of tobacco. On my instructions a comprehensive new tobacco Bill is being prepared in my Department and I will give priority to the introduction of the new Bill. I am hopeful that these measures, coupled with the increase of 50p per packet, will deter young people, particularly young girls, from taking up the habit of smoking.