Pfizer backs full smoking ban

Pfizer has announced its support for the introduction of a ban on smoking in public places across the European Union (EU) and the improvement of access to treatments to aid smoking cessation across the continent.

The company reports that it has presented its recommendations to the consultation procedure of the European parliament that is due to end at the start of June this year, the day following the official World No Tobacco day.

Pfizer has advocated a full ban on public smoking in public places backed by binding legislation as a means to help those wanting to quit and discourage uptake in the habit in addition to promotional campaigns and increased funding and other efforts to widen access to cessation therapies.

Jack Watters, vice-president of international medical affairs at Pfizer, said: “There is a tremendous urgency for EU Member States to introduce a comprehensive and holistic set of policies aimed at protecting their citizens by reducing tobacco use and preventing tobacco related diseases in Europe.”

The company adds that compromise measures short of a full ban on smoking in public places are doomed to fail, with Mr Watters stating that member states must display the courage to introduce and enforce complete measures.

In March 2007, the British Medical Association urged smokers to give up the habit in advance of the complete ban in public places that will be introduced in the UK on July 1st 2007.