As the country marks World No Tobacco Day today, the Health Ministry is continuing to focus on the danger of passive smoking.
National Advisor of Non Communicable Diseases, Doctor Isimeli Tukana said while the last survey has shown that 40 percent of the people in the country smoke daily, the worry is the high number of people exposed to cigarette smoke.
He said their message is clear on smoking.
Results on a survey will soon be revealed on whether the amount of people smoking has gone down due to awareness programs on the dangers of smoking.
6 communities in Vanua Levu have been declared no tobacco communities while the Fiji National University will declare all their areas tobacco free today.
Doctor Tukana said that their focus is to make public places no tobacco zones however allocated smoking areas have been considered.
An average of eight people die every year in Fiji due to cardiovascular related diseases with smoking as the highest risk factor according to the Fiji College of General Practitioners.
President Dr Ram Raju said that diseases due to smoking is causing a drain on the resources in hospitals and costs the nation millions of dollars.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
