This is a popular story today. Greek PM Papandreou has picked up the World No Tobacco Day prize for his determination to implement a smoking ban.
The report linked above describes the smoking ban as 'politically unpopular'. The Associated Press report refers to Greece as 'a country where the new smoking ban is largely ignored'.
Mr Papandreou is accredited with 'political courage' for his insistence that the smoking ban will be a comprehensive law in spite of other austerity measures the government is taking, and in spite of opposition from Greek people. I am not sure that 'political courage' are words that describe the actions of a leader who follows a global health agenda at the expense of his people's livelihoods and against their wishes.
3 comments:
Excellent, Belinda. And true: the ban is still largely ignored here.
:D
The smoking ban in Greece was no doubt a condition imposed by the EU before the economic bail-out of Greece was approved.
The IMF and World bank are up to their necks in Tobacco Control.
Look who sponsors the Anti-Smoking lobby:
http://www.uknscc.org/2010_UKNSCC/sponsors.html
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