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Malta was among the handful of European countries to take the lead in banning smoking in public places this year through a controversial law that pitted bars, restaurants and the entertainment industry against the government and the public health establishment.
After an about-turn at the beginning of the year, government finally introduced the new regulations last October, totally banning smoking in bars of a certain size and restaurants except in specially designated rooms equipped with sophisticated air extractors that nobody has found viable to invest in so far.
The same regulations will apply for establishments measuring less than 60 square metres from April next year.
“One may say these are drastic measures, but we don’t compromise when it comes to public health,” said the Superintendent of Public Health, Ray Busuttil.
Asked whether he viewed the new regulations as a means to pave the way for an outright prohibition of smoking, Health Promotion head Dr Mario Spiteri said: “Hopefully”.
The Medical Association of Malta declared its “full backing” to the government in the introduction of the regulations. It encouraged “all those in the entertainment and catering industry to adapt themselves rapidly to these regulations and take this opportunity to react positively in a way to attract new clients who can breathe cleaner air”.
On the other hand The General Retailers and Traders Association was up in arms against the government for introducing a blanket ban that, it claimed, would ruin the industry.
“So far, 90 per cent of public places are already non-smoking areas, which is already very good when compared to other EU countries,” Philip Fenech said, arguing against forcing the remaining 10 per cent to ban smokers.
According to the National Statistics Office’s Lifestyle 2003 survey released a year ago, 30 per cent of male adults and 21 per cent of female adults are smokers.
The same survey reveals that almost 20 per cent of Maltese adults are ex smokers and 54 per cent never smoked.
The largest group of smokers (42 per cent) is made of 34 to 44-year-olds, followed by the 25-34 age bracket (34 per cent) and then 18-24 (27 per cent).
Around 37 per cent of smokers smoke between one and 10 cigarettes a day, followed by 36 per cent of smokers who smoke between 11 and 20 cigarettes, and 17 per cent who smoke 21 to 30 cigarettes everyday. Almost 4 per cent of smokers smoke 31 or more cigarettes a day.
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