Voluntary Sector: Charities bolster smoking ban bid

PR Week UK, Friday, 08 July 2005, 4:14pm,

Six major health and anti-smoking organisations have joined forces to step up pressure on the Government to ban smoking in public places.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Asthma UK, British Heart Foundation, British Medical Association, Cancer Research UK, and the Royal College of Physicians are leading the campaign, unveiled on Tuesday.

ASH public affairs manager Ian Willmore said the activity would coincide with the final stages of consultation for the forthcoming legislation on smoking in public places.

'It's About Health, It's About Time' is being supported by www.smokefreeaction.org.uk, which contains details of surveys and research conducted by the main groups involved in the campaign. It also outlines the issues raised in last November's White Paper on Public Health, which detailed Labour's intention to make it illegal to smoke in enclosed public spaces.