In response to Tuesday’s States approval of regulations setting out how a ban will work from 2 January, Dr Rosemary Geller said that it would have a dramatic and positive effect on the health of all Islanders.
She said: ‘Smoking is Public Health Enemy No 1 – but perhaps not for much longer in Jersey.
The States decision yesterday marks a landmark in social policy for Jersey.
In my opinion the smoking ban law and regulations are the most significant legal advance in public health this century and certainly in my living memory.
‘In my judgment, huge improvements in Island health will soon be realised.
I am expecting to see, in the short term, an improvement in how employees feel at the end of a day’s work, a reduction in the number of Islanders who smoke, fewer heart attacks, and fewer days lost to the Island’s economy from sickness.’ She added: ‘In the long term, many lives will be saved.
The Tobacco Strategy tackles death and disease, caused by smoking, from all angles.
The ban is one of many actions which will save life.’
