§ 3. Mr. Gristasked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to discourage cigarette smoking (a)in his Department and (b) amongst the general public in Wales since 1979.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsIn addition to various nationwide activities by the Government to discourage smoking, specific action in Wales includes the provision of funds for 5 Action on Smoking and Health and the production of bilingual advice to retailers and schools to combat smoking by children. Within the Welsh Office, certain no smoking areas are already designated and an extension of them is being considered.
§ Mr. GristWill my hon. Friend bear in mind the cost in lives and to the Health Service in Wales of cardiac and respiratory diseases, let alone cancer? What success is his campaign likely to have?
§ Mr. RobertsOf course I hope that our campaign is very successful in Wales. My hon. Friend is certainly right, in that many deaths and much of the incidence of heart disease are due to smoking. Indeed, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security on 14 December 1984. It is because of the relationship, particularly in Wales, between smoking and heart disease that the health community in Wales welcomes the Welsh heart programme.
§ Mr. SoamesWill my hon. Friend take it from me that such interference is absolutely intolerable? Although I accept that there is everything to be said for educating children about smoking, will my hon. Friend accept that if adults wish to smoke,, that is entirely up to them and has nothing to do with the state?
§ Mr. RobertsNo, I cannot agree with my hon. Friend. There is a connection between smoking and disease. Although I am a smoker, I say so with regret, and can only say video meliora proboque deteriora sequor.