Ukraine is on the verge of a public health breakthrough that will help millions of people to live longer, but once again the tobacco industry is standing in the way.

All that has to happen to achieve a major health victory is for President Viktor Yanukovych to sign legislation, passed by 368 out of 450 members in parliament, to enact an indoor smoking ban in public places.

However, the powerful tobacco industry is waging a last-minute campaign to persuade Yanukovych to veto the law. The president has until June 12 to decide.

It appears the cigarette death merchants are making headway, judging from fallacious reasoning coming from deputy head of the administration Iryna Akimova. Or maybe she and the president simply fear a backlash from millions of smoking voters ahead of the Oct. 28 parliamentary election.

Akimova said on June 6 that a complete ban on smoking in public places – including restaurants, bars and cafes – goes too far because it infringes on smokers’ rights. “There should be conditions for the people who smoke and who do not smoke,” she is quoted as saying. “What are the conditions? That is another question.”

Akimova should be ashamed of herself for recycling stale tobacco industry myths, falsehoods and half-truths. Yanukovych should discard her poor advice.
Nobody would be banned from smoking. They would simply be required to do it outside or in private settings, such as their homes.

It only takes a few smokers in a restaurant or a nightclub to ruin the experience – and eventually the health — of everyone. Medical evidence shows that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.

Smokers do not have the right to pollute everyone’s air with toxic, cancer-causing substances. Even most smokers, who surveys show want to quit, would agree.

In nations where bans exist, smokers easily adjust and go outside. Far from losing customers, businesses gain patronage from those who are now turned off by smoke-filled rooms. The patrons are healthier, the workers are healthier and the smokers are merely inconvenienced.


It only takes a few smokers in a restaurant or a nightclub to ruin the experience – and eventually the health — of everyone. Medical evidence shows that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.

Yanukovych has shown commendable leadership so far in helping to move this nation away from its heavy smoking addiction.

An estimated 11 million Ukrainians smoke habitually and 100,000 of them die prematurely every year because of it.

Earlier this year, the president signed into law a strong advertising ban on tobacco products. We urge him to continue to exert strong leadership by signing into law a 100 percent ban on smoking inside public places.

And then he should take the next step and urge the parliament he controls to substantially raise taxes on cigarettes, which regrettably are still among the cheapest in Europe.

The president can either go down in history as a champion of public health whose decisions improved and lengthened the lives of millions of Ukrainians.

Or he can take the side of an industry that is only interested in making money by addicting future generations to deadly products.