Irish respiratory consultants today backed the proposed workplace ban on smoking, saying it would save many people from a debilitating and killer disease.
The Irish Thoracic Society annual conference, passed a motion urging "all politicians, employers (including publicans) and the general public to support the move".
Their support coincides with World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Awareness Day. COPD symptoms range from coughing and sputum production to shortness of breath and affects well over 110,000 people in Ireland accounting for almost 10,000 hospital bed days a year.
Prof Shane O'Neill, consultant respiratory physician at Beaumont Hospital said: "Research shows that the predominant cause of COPD is cigarette smoking. Any measures that reduce smoking are to be welcomed in the role they will play in preventing COPD in this country."
The conference heard World Health Organisation statistics which show Ireland has the second highest COPD mortality rate of 28 industrialised nations, behind only Hungary.