Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

HEALTH

Milan set to ban smoking outdoors in public from January

Local authorities in Milan have approved a ban on smoking at bus stops as well as in other outdoor public places as part of new measures to improve the city's air quality.

Published: 20 November 2020 17:22 CET
Milan set to ban smoking outdoors in public from January
Milan's parks will be a smoke-free zone from January 1st. Photo: AFP
The new rules will come into effect from January 1st 2021 after a majority of local councillors voted in favour of the ban on smoking outdoors in places such as public transport stops, parks, chldrens' play areas, sports stadiums and cemeteries.
 
Smoking will be banned within 10 metres of other people, reports Italian news agency Ansa.
 
The clean air legislation also includes a requirement for petrol stations to install electric car-charging points, and the phasing out of diesel-powered heating systems.
 
Milan mayor Giuseppe (Beppe) Sala is planning to ban smoking completely in all public outdoor areas from January 1st, 2025, prompted by studies showing how smoking contributes to pollution, Italian newspaper La Stampa writes.
Along with other cities including Rome and Florence, Milan was recording dangerously high pollution levels – specifically of PM10 fine particles – at the beginning of the year.
 
Some vehicles were banned from driving in city centres during what officials called the “smog emergency”.
 
While pollution levels lowered dramatically during Italy's coronavirus lockdown, public awareness was focused on Italy's long-standing issues with pollution when the preliminary results of studies suggested a possible link between poor air quality and illness due to Covid-19.
 
Italy has had a ban on smoking indoors since 2005, but rules are less strict than in some other European countries; smoking is allowed on bar and restaurant terraces and next to the doors of public buildings, for example.
 
 
Some Italian cities have stricter local measures in place. In Verona and Bolzano smoking is banned in parks and green spaces.
 
Venice's mayor also proposed banning smoking in the city centre last year, though nothing has come of it yet.
 
Milan is so far unique among Italian cities in approving a ban on smoking outdoors in public.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Published: 10 May 2023 15:09 CEST
Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

SHOW COMMENTS