June 18 (Xinhua) — The South African government is pushing for stricter rules banning smoking in public places despite opposition from some business groups, health officials said on Monday.
The government has submitted draft regulations known as the Tobacco Products Control Act for public debate on March 30. Now South Africans have until the end of the month to comment on the draft regulations.
The department of health said that once the time came, smoking would be banned in all public areas including covered walkways, service areas, inside bars, on public or private beaches, restaurants and even at workplaces. This would be the most drastic anti-smoking effort in Africa.
The Free Market Foundation (FMF), an independent economic policy research and education organization, has slammed the regulations, calling the move “unrealistic”, according to the local newspaper Cape Argus.
“This is not about health, it’s about dignity, freedom and respect,” FMF executive director Leon Louw said in remarks published by the paper. He urged “everyone who believes they would be negatively impacted by the regulations” to send their comments to the health department.
But the government remained undaunted despite the opposition. Health officials said that introducing stricter regulations against smoking was necessary as the use of tobacco products was one of the leading causes of non-communicable diseases in South Africa and many parts of the world.
Health department spokesman Fidel Hadebe said Louw’s views were “seriously ridiculous and outrageous.” Hadebe said smoking was a huge public health problem and that people were developing diseases because of passive smoking.
“These laws are the same with tobacco legislation, but these laws are there to self-enforce.. we want members of the public to self-enforce these laws. The police won’t be going around checking on everyone.” (Xinhua)
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