Govt Bans Cigarette, Alcohol Sales In Hospitals

Govt bans cigarette, alcohol sales in hospitals

KAMPHAENG PHET: -- The Ministry of Public Health today issued a ban on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol in hospitals nationwide, warning that cigarette smoke was killing 150 Thais each day.

The order was announced by Dr. Vichai Tienthavon, the Permanent Secretary for Public Health, who today opened a 30-bed ward in a hospital in Thailand's northern province of Kamphaeng Phet.

Dr. Vichai said that in response to His Majesty the King's concern over the dangers of cigarettes and alcohol, the Ministry of Public Health would turn all its health centres, offices and hospitals into smoke-free and alcohol-free zones.

The ministry today issued an order to provincial public health officers and the directors of hospitals across the country banning the sale of cigarettes and alcohol in hospital-based shops, an order which Dr. Vichai said would come into effect on 20 December.

Government statistics suggest that cigarette consumption is posing a growing threat to the nation's health, with 35,000 smoking-related deaths in 1998 rising to 54,265 deaths in 2003, an average of nearly 150 deaths per day.

The majority of deaths, around 40,000, are caused by heart disease.

--TNA 2004-12-15