The number of smokers in Ireland has dropped by almost 200,000 in the last six years, a conference on tobacco control was told in Limerick yesterday.
The two-day conference, "Change in the Air: Directions in Tobacco Control in the EU", is hosted by the Office of Tobacco Control to coincide with the Irish presidency. Delegates heard 660,000 people across Europe die annually because of tobacco-related illness.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin - who was presented with an award - said in 1998 nearly one-third of the population smoked compared to 25 per cent today.
The World Health Organisation predicts the premature death toll due to tobacco will double to 9.8 million people annually over the next 20 years if current trends continue. In terms of the number of deaths worldwide, annually 4.9 million people die prematurely from tobacco use, placing it as the second biggest cause of death in the world.
Commissioner David Byrne urged other EU member-states to implement a ban on smoking in the workplace.