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Third of Danes support total smoking ban

Christian Wenande
March 17th, 2016


This article is more than 9 years old.

And 59 percent are open to increasing tobacco taxes in order to make it happen

According to a new assessment by the Research Centre for Prevention and Health (RCPH), almost one third of Danes are in support of a total smoking ban in the not too distant future.

The assessment, published in the scientific periodical PubMed, showed that 30.6 percent of Danes support a total smoking ban within ten years’ time or more.

“Women were less supportive of a future ban and more supportive of increasing taxes than men. Support for both measures was highest among the youngest,” the assessment found.

“Only a small difference was found in the level of support for a ban depending on the respondents’ educational attainment, while support for higher taxes tended to be more favoured by those who with a higher level of education. Support for both measures was greatest among those who had never smoked compared to daily smokers.”

READ MORE: Bans on workplace smoking in Denmark helping people to kick the habit

End game strategy
The results also revealed that 59 percent were open to an increase in tobacco taxes in order to make smoking even less popular.

Copenhagen is working towards reducing the number of smokers in the city via its ‘Røgfri København 2025’ (‘Smoke-free Copenhagen 2025’) initiative, which aims to decrease the number of smokers to under 4 percent by 2025.

In Finland, officials have already decided to increase taxes on tobacco in a bid to make the nation smoke-free by 2040. New Zealand is meanwhile aiming to become a smoke-free nation by 2025.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”